Belong - jatp/reggie

13

hadley found julie sitting on her bed drawing in her art book. she didn't say anything as she walked towards the girl, taking a seat on the bed next to her.

"you okay?" hadley asks quietly and julie shook her head 'no'.

"how about you?" julie asks her back, to which hadley just shakes her head as well.

both girls let out a sigh at the same time, as hadley leans her head on julie's shoulder.

the girls sat in silence, julie still drawing in her book and hadley watching her, spinning her ring still. it was habit she did a lot when she was anxious.

a small knock came from the door and the two girls looked up to see flynn stepping into the room.

"hey," she greeted them quietly. "i got your texts."

"don't come to close." julie says quickly, setting down her pen. "anyone we seem to care about disappears."

"you can't get rid of me," flynn informs them. "i'm like the crazy glue of best friends." she shrugs.

"i just don't get it." hadley sighs, still trying to understand all the new information she had just learned.

"right when our lives start to get good." julie adds with a huff. "great friends, great band, great guys, and then...BAM!" she holds up the drawing she had been working on to flynn.

"i seriously don't know why all this is happening to you, but that's gonna be a great album cover one day!" she says, making hadley crack the smallest of grins. flynn began folding julie's moms sweater and placing it back in the trunk of her clothes.

"you don't have to do that." julie tells her quickly.

"i know, but i get to check out all your moms cool stuff." flynn says, smiling as she looked through the items in the box. "woah, did you guys know this was in here?" she held out a bedazzled sunset curve t-shirt, and two girls on the beds eyes widened.

"what the hell?" hadley speaks quickly, moving from the bed to the floor next to flynn and grabbing the shirt to look at it.

"how do you think she got it?" flynn asks, looking to julie.

"i don't know, but they guys said they didn't know my mom." julie says, her voice laced with confusion. "why would they lie?"

"maybe they didn't," flynn starts. "maybe she knew them! she could be a fan."

"i mean, sunset curve was playing the hollywood club scene around then." julie nods, though she still seemed unsure.

hadley was still confused, even if the guys were connected to julie's mom, why could she see them too? surely it wasn't just because she was in the room with julie when she discovered them. and she hadn't had trouble playing like julie, so why can she see them?

"oh my gosh, what if you were right?" flynn speaks again, excitement growing in her voice with each word. "what if the guys are connected to your mom, you know through music or something?"

"because she bought their t-shirt?" hadley asks, making flynn roll her eyes at the blonde.

"think about it! they were the ones who made you want to play music again!" she turns back to julie. "maybe she knew they could help you!"

"and what about me?" hadley asks. maybe she had just gotten lucky, and this time with the boys was just a mistake of fate.

"maybe she thought reggie could help you with your parents. she knew you needed someone!" flynn's voice is still full of giddiness but neither of the other girls were feeling the same.