Wake Up| JATP

Chapter 11

The blonde haired girl didn't expect to see all three boys awake before her, all sitting on the floor staring anxiously at the teenage girl. Her eyebrows furrowed and she rubbed her eyes as a yawn escaped her lips. "Uh, can I help you?" The boys all looked at each other before turning back to Nicole. "Ok. Um this question has been on our minds since we first saw you, y'know in the afterlife." Luke was nervously wringing his hands which made Nicole nervous. Her heart beat loudly in her chest. It was way too early to feel this nervous. "Will you just spit it out already?" Luke gulped. "How did you die? I-I mean you didn't die with us because you didn't eat a street dog a-and it's kinda been bugging us." Nicole's whole world stopped. Her heart fell straight to her feet and she was pretty sure she had visibly paled. Why were they so interested? Well she knew why but she wished they just didn't ask. How was she going to tell them that she had killed herself because she couldn't cope on her own anymore? The answer was, she couldn't. It made her angry, thinking about her death, a little sad too, knowing she threw everything she had left away, which was Marley. "It's not important how I died, you should just be glad that I'm here with you instead of being some wrinkly 40 year old who would probably be living by herself or with 50 cats." She tried to remain calm instead of taking unneeded anger out on them. She ran her bony fingers through her bed hair, trying to make it look somewhat presentable. Luke stood from the floor, walking towards the girl. "But it is, your our friend, your a part of our family, I think we deserve to know." She whipped her head around raising an eyebrow at the brunette. "I don't wanna talk about it Luke." She fixed the cushions on the couch, trying to find a distraction so that she wouldn't unleash hell on the three boys. From the corner of her eye, she saw Alex give Luke a look of warning which he quickly dismissed, following the blonde around the couch. "But why-" Nicole whipped her head up, staring into the boys eyes. "I said, I don't wanna talk about it." Her hair  swayed side to side as she stormed out of the studio, her fists clenched at either side.

She wasn't angry at the boys, if it was the other way around she would be curious too but she didn't like how curious they were. It was a sensitive subject for the girl which is why she rarely thought about it, instead focusing on living her afterlife to the fullest. Her back was lent against the brick wall and a loud sigh escaped her lips. She wanted to tell the boys, she really did but she didn't know how. They were her family and this would definitely destroy them if they ever found out. She wrapped her arms around herself, only know realising she was only in one of Luke's t-shirts and shorts. She heard the familiar sound of the studio doors open, yet she still kept her head down. She didn't have to guess who it was that had come out side, the black Vans giving it away. "What do you want, Luke?" She lifted her head slightly, her gaze landing on him. It was difficult for her to maintain herself once she saw the small pout on his face and the hint of sadness in his eyes. "I-I'm really sorry Princess. I didn't mean to pry, I just wanted to know, I was curious." His hand was latched onto his neck, rubbing it nervously. She stayed quite for a minute, thinking of what to say. "I know. I'm not angry at you. I- I just hate talking about it and the only people that know are- well my parents, Marley and Charlie. I'm not sure if I'm ready for you guys to know yet- or if I'll ever be ready, but I promise, one day." Luke stepped forward his eyes never leaving hers. "We just worry about you Princess, your different, you keep to yourself more now, and it makes us wonder what could've happened to make you change." He grabbed her hands, holding them tightly. "You don't have to." Her voice was barely above a whisper. Her mind was spinning having Luke this close to her, she could feel his breath on her cheeks. "Just promise me that you'll talk to us if somethings wrong, alright?" He raised his eyebrows at her basically telling her there was no option but to say yes. She nodded her head making him step back, a massive grin on his face. The two teleported back to the studio where Nicole immediately got changed and apologised to the two other members of Sunset Curve.

After spending a short amount of time with the boys, Nicole decided she needed some girl time and teleported to Julie who was sitting at the piano in the music room, Flynn standing a few feet away. "Hey Julie!" She gave the girl a smile and wave but received a look of confusion. "I wanted to spend time with you, if that's alright?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. She didn't want to force Julie into hanging out of with the girl, she knew she could be annoying sometimes. "Yeah of course! It would be nice to have another girlfriend." Nicole goes to give the girl a hug before remembering she couldn't and putting her arms by her side again. Julie sent her a sad smile before informing her best friend about Nicole's presence. "Oh hey Nicole! Can I just say I loved your performance!" Nicole smiled and told Julie to say thank you. "Oh Nicole we have something to tell you! We're playing at the school dance!" Nicole squealed before quickly composing herself. "Really? This is amazing I should go tell the boys! Flynn, Julie it was nice seeing you bye!" She spent a bit of time wondering around the streets of Hollywood trying to kill sometime. After all, she didn't get much time to herself anymore with the boys around, it was nice. After a few hours she poofed herself into the garage landing on Luke's lap. "Guys! We're playing a school dance!" She clapped her hands in excitement not even noticing the way Luke's arms twisted around her waist. "Sweet!" Reggie cheered with the same amount of enthusiasm as Nicole. Just then Julie walked through the doors, dropping her bag of to the side. "Yeah well it's not exactly the strip." Julie gave a light chuckle as she begun watering the plants and Luke and Nicole made their way over to the piano. "And you're not exactly alive so maybe you should be happy we got out first gig." Nicole fist bumped the boy making him smile brightly. "I wasn't exactly in love with the idea at first either, but it could be a great way for us to build a following, right?" Nicole nodded her head eagerly catching Luke's eye. "Come on Lukey! We're not in the 90's anymore, if this the way to get famous then we've got to take that chance!" He smiled at her eagerness and her adorable smile that she wore on her face. "Yeah. Yeah. We need to play wherever we can, whenever we can." To empathise his point, Reggie tapped his finger down on the piano which made Nicole smile. "No you're right, let's rock those kids faces off and then play the clubs." Nicole lent her head on his shoulder which made him smile. "And then record a single that gets a billion streams?"  Nicole nodded her head and laughed excitedly despite not knowing what it meant. "I don't know what that is, but hopefully it gets us a manager and a tour." Nicole pointed finger guns at the brunette boy. He slung his arm over her shoulder pulling her into his side. "Then we release a bunch of hit albums." Nicole smiled. "Put out a country album that does surprisingly well." Nicole giggled and rolled her eyes nudging Reggie's side lightly. "I shred on the banjo so..." Nicole decided to but in. "And I rock a cow girl outfit so." Luke nodded his head which made Nicole blush. "Then I'll learn how to fiddle." Nicole giggled and her blonde hair fell over face. "And before you know it, we're being inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame." Nicole stood back, smiling to herself, her hair still hanging over her face. Luke turned towards her brushing a few strands of hair behind her ear. "You okay?" The girl nodded though her face told another story. "Don't lie to me Princess, what's wrong?" The two moved further away from the others, tuning out Reggie's predictions of Alex having a blow out. She held onto his hands tightly as she spoke. "I-I just, I feel bad, Marley was a part of this band too and we have a second chance, but she's not in it. I feel like I'm betraying her by being happy." A single tear rolled down her cheek but Luke's thumb wiped it away before it got to her chin. "Your not. I bet Marley would be so proud if she knew. You should carry this on for her." She nodded her head.

She had no idea how Luke had the power to make her feel okay again. He did it every time she was down. She swore that he felt the way she did. Maybe Alex was right, or maybe he wasn't but she couldn't take the odd chance. So to get this all off of her mind, she did the one thing she did best, she performed.