The Other Side of Hollywood | Luke Patterson

SIX✨

"It's not often I come across other spirits who possess similar talents," Maya and I poofed in next to Willie as Caleb spoke to the boys; all three of them stared at him intently, taking in his every word; I tried my best to keep my gaze on Caleb, but I was far too distracted by the shaggy-haired boy sitting beside him, "ah and here are my favorite girls," He gestured to Maya and I, causing all three boys to turn around; Alex and Reggie's eyes widened slightly, the two of them finally noticing my presence; I could usually read expressions really well, but Luke's was hard, he looked shocked, sad, and in awe all at once, his eyes never straying from mine.

"I-uh, you look like-" Reggie stuttered finally, his eyes still wide in shock.

"Harper," Luke spoke; if he ever doubted that it was me, he didn't now; despite my new look, from up close, you could tell I was still the same girl, "I thought it was you, w-what are you doing here?" I could feel Caleb's eyes watching me; I told Caleb everything, he was the closest thing to a parental figure I had, yet he'd never heard of these three boys.

"I perform here," I stated, trying to sound like seeing him again after all this type did not phase me at all; what else was I supposed to say, "oh yeah, I died because I was a wimp who was too scared to confront you." "it's nice to see you, Luke," I said instead, nodding in his direction. I wanted to scream at him; all the words I'd been holding in for the past 25 years, but I had a job to do; my personal feelings are not allowed to get in the way; I won't let them. "Alex, Reggie," I nodded towards the other two, forcing a small smile on my face. The two of them weren't in my "good books" either; not only did they ditch me too, but they were the reason Luke ran in the first place; he chose his stupid band with them over me.

"Hi, I'm Maya," the girl standing next to me cut in, flashing a smile in Luke and Reggie's direction; the boys glanced at her slightly but were all unable to look away from me fully. I wish I could advert my gaze and pretend I wasn't curious about them too, but I was, I hadn't seen these boys in 25 years, and somehow it feels like none of them have changed.

"How do you guys know Harper?" Willie asked the boys, mainly looking at Alex; the blonde-haired boy glanced between Willie and I; it was a tough question to answer; they knew me because of Luke, if it weren't for our past relationship, I probably wouldn't have known Alex and Reggie existed.

"Harper and I-"Luke started, his voice quiet and awkward.

"were neighbors," Alex cuts him off, turning his attention back to Willie, "we haven't seen her in a while, though."

"I mean, it makes sense," Reggie cut in; I closed my eyes; as sweet as Reggie was, he was known for making some pretty random comments, "she died, and we had no clue; I mean, did you even know we died? How'd you-"

"It seems like you four have a lot of catching up to do," Caleb interrupts Reggie's rambling, standing up from his seat, "if you'll excuse me, fellas, I gotta go pay the bills if you know what I'm saying." He began walking away, "oh, Harper, why don't you take Luke on a tour." I mentally scolded him for choosing Luke; I knew I'd have to spend most of my night with either Luke or Reggie; I was planning on grabbing the bassist and sticking with him; it would be less awkward.

"Yeah, of course," I fake smiled, nodding in response, "Maya, why don't you show Reggie around," I nudged her, nodding over to the other boy.

"I would love to," She smiled, grabbing his hand in hers; I bit my lip, holding in my laughter; Reggie's eyes were wide as Maya dragged him away.

"if you don't want-"

"It's okay," I reassured, cutting Luke off; a blatant lie, everything was far from okay, "We should probably talk." Luke nodded, shuffling out of his seat, trailing behind me; if we had to have this talk, I needed to be somewhere a little more private.

"So," Luke started as we walked up the grand stairs, leading to the overlook of the club, "you're dead?" I rolled my eyes; why else would I be here?

"For 25 years," I answer dryly, leaning against the balcony ledge, "what happened to you three?"

"Ate some bad hot dogs," Luke shrugged; I nodded, holding back a smirk; is it bad that I was happy they died in some ridiculous way? "we were supposed to be playing the Orpheum the night it happened." My eyes widened slightly at that; they died the night of their Orpheum show, the same night I died, "you remember the Orpheum, right? I used to talk-"

"Yeah, I remember," I cut him off; Luke nodded awkwardly; I didn't use to be this dry or snappy; a lot had changed, and Luke was clearly taken aback by it.

"Listen, Harper," I sighed; I knew where this was going, he was about to apologize for how poorly he treated me. if it were up to me, I would decline his apology and storm away; but it wasn't up to me; Caleb was counting on me to get the boys to stay, "I shouldn't have run out like that; it was a jerk move." I wanted to nod in agreement and tell him just how big of a jerk he was, but then I spotted Caleb standing on the lower level looking up at me; I may not get why he needs sunset curve so badly, nor do I want them here, but if I didn't do this, who knows what Caleb would do.

"It's alright," I finally say, looking over at him, "that was a long time ago; trust me, I'm over it." Was I though, I had always thought I had moved on from my past life and the boy who broke my heart, but now here I was, standing next to him 25 years later, and it felt like nothing had changed.

"Really?" Luke asked, for the first time tonight, his eyes are full of hope.

"Yeah," I nodded, forcing a smile onto my lips, "of course."

🤍
Luke and Harper have reunited...
How are y'all liking other side of Hollywood so far?