Wake Up| JATP

Chapter 10

Nicole spent about an hour up in the loft before Alex came up to check on her. She was told that he was nominated to be sent up because Nicole was less likely to bite his head off. He took a seat next to her on one of the bean bags. "Whats up Nicole?" She huffed and ran her hand through her hair, one of the things she did when she was nervous, the others were write a song or count on her fingers over and over again. "Do I have to answer that? How about we talk about your new 'ghost friend'?" She wiggled her eyebrows teasingly at him though she was happy to see a genuine smile on the boys face, it had been too long since either of them had had a crush on someone. "Or we could talk about how you are making it so painfully obvious that you are like insanely in love with Luke." He prodded at her legs making her squeal and hit his hands away. "I am not! Am I?" She bit her lip nervously and watched as her friend's facial expression changed. "Do you though? That's the question really isn't it? Are you in love with Luke?" She shifted her body and crossed her legs. "Yes? I mean I think so? Whenever he's around it's like my mood completely changes and the way he looks at me makes me feel special and loved, something I never felt when I was at home." Alex smiled brightly at the girl before picking her up and spinning her around. "Oh my gosh you are so in love, your like neck deep in it!" Nicole wacked the boys back to make him talk quieter. "It doesn't matter Alex, he doesn't feel the same, he probably never will." Alex sighed dramatically. "Are you blind? That boy is literally in love with you!" Nicole shook her head. 

Their conversation was cut short when Julie came bursting into the studio. "Ok up and at it people, we have 30 minutes to rehearse that new song! Let's go!" Nicole and Alex poofed down to the studio, standing in front of Julie who gave them both looks which sent them walking to their instruments in a hurry. 

The 5 rehearsed as much as they could in that 30 minutes and they were pretty confident. There was a light knock on the door signalling that Flynn was here. Julie walked to the studio doors. Flynn stood with her arms crossed over her chest and one of the best sassiest looks on a face Nicole had ever seen.  Julie let out a nervous chuckle and looked back at the band of ghosts, Nicole gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks for coming, we just wanted to rehearse the song so it was perfect,which it's not but whatever." Nicole winced and pouted slightly. She thought they were amazing. Luke laughed at her pouty face and as much as she tried, she couldn't contain her smile. Alex and Reggie shared a knowing look which Nicole saw but didn't bother to comment on it. "No, if I'm gonna hear a song from your imaginary ghost band, I want it to be perfect. So get back in there, all of you. You too." Flynn pointed her fingers in all directions, one pointing into Nicole's direction. She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder and crossed her arms. "I don't need to rehearse, we are already amazing." She huffed. Julie tried containing a laugh as she turned to Flynn. "Stop speaking, you'll get us in trouble." Luke whispered into her ear, she felt his chest press against her back and sent chills down her spine. He winked in her direction as he got back into position as Flynn and Julie made their way over to the couch. "Actually can you go over there? Reggie needs some space to rock out and he feels kinda weird walking through you- nope Nicole is there- a little to the right that's it." Nicole gave Julie an appreciative smile thankful that she wasn't going to make her walk through a person, it felt weird. "Boy when you create a world, your really live in it." Nicole couldn't wait for that grin to be wiped off of Flynn's face, don't get her wrong she loved the girl and thought she was amazing but boy she couldn't wait to prove her wrong.

Julie forced Flynn into a seat and walked over to the keyboard, preparing herself to sing. "The guys took a poem that I wrote about you and put it to music." Flynn looked unbothered. "Aww I wish I didn't have to talk to your dad after this." Nicole laughed. "It's called Flying Solo, hope you like it." Julie nodded her head at Nicole and she prepared to appear. Julie began creating a beat before playing it on repeat and moved to the keyboard. 

"If I leave you on a bad note, leave you on a sad note guess that means I'm buying lunch that day, I know all your secrets, you know all my deep dish, guess that means some things they never, they never change. We both know what I, what I, what I mean. When I look at you it's like I'm looking at me." 

The boys and Nicole flashed in, all wearing bright smiles as they watched Flynn's reaction. Nicole bopped her head to the beat smirking at Flynn who gave her an awkward smile in return.

"My life, my life would be real low,zero, flying solo. My life my life would be real low, zero flying solo without you. Hey! Yeah Yeah! Hey! Yeah! Yeah! My life my life would be real low flying solo without you." 

Julie looked towards Nicole nodding her head to the microphone. Nicole stood shocked and pointed at herself to make sure she was understanding what Julie was trying to say. When Julie nodded her head again, Nicole reached for Luke's microphone not missing the small smile on his face as she did. 

"Yeah you know who I'm liking, way before I like them duh, cause you liked them first. And if somebody hurts you I'm gonna get hurt too, that's just work, yeah that's just how we work. It will never change. We both know what I, what I, what I mean. When I look at you it's like I'm looking at me!"

As the song came near to an end, Julie dragged Flynn along to each ghost as if trying to introduce them. First was Luke, who jumped out at the girl making her flinch. After that was Alex, who just smiled at the girl, not wanting to frighten her like Luke had. Flynn stuck her hand through Reggie's shoulder, pulling it back quickly. "They're ghosts!" Alex looked towards the girl. "We prefer, uh musician spirits." Nicole smiled before speaking. "Yeah the word ghosts makes us feel more, well dead, I guess." She let out a small giggle which made Luke's heart jump in his chest. "Julie... so does this mean your joining our band?" Flynn stepped forward, gaining confidence to speak to the ghost boy. "Uh I think your joining her band." Julie smirked and placed her arms on Flynn's shoulder. "I'm gonna go with what she said." The band played their instruments quietly before finishing the rest of the song.

They sung the chorus together, the boys echoing in the background. Nicole played a small, improvised riff which seemed to impress everyone there which made her happy. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this happy, it had been rare to see the Jones girl smile, ever since her death, with nothing to smile about or no one to smile for, she just, didn't. Now she had a reason yet she still felt incomplete, although this time, she knew what was missing. Hers and Luke's eyes met as the band disappeared, watching as the two alive teenage girls hugged in the middle of the room. His eyes were soft, boring into hers, usually she would pull away because she would feel embarrassed, but this time, she couldn't, so she just didn't. She definitely knew what was missing, and she couldn't have it, though it stood right in front of her.