"So welcome to the brotherhood, where you won't be misunderstood, life in good on the other side of Hollywood."
Everything in Harper Paige's life was perfect; she had the grades, the talent, and even the perfect guy, but everything falls apart the...
"and you're sure they're in there?" I ask Maya, referring to the coffee shop around the corner; she had spent her morning tracking down the boys while I went over our plan with Caleb.
"Positive," She nodded; I go to poof away when she grabs my wrist, stopping me. "Willie's here," She whispered, nodding her head over to the coffee shop; the two of us peek over, instantly spotting Willie looking into the coffee shop, I assume watching Alex and the other two boys.
"I guess Caleb told him he's not allowed to see Alex," I muttered, frowning as Willie skated away and Alex ran out, "you should go check on him." Maya groaned in annoyance but poofed away anyway, off to find the ghost Caleb had warned to stay away.
"Here goes nothing," I mutter, poofing into the coffee shop; where I planned to act guilty, as if I wanted to apologize. I poofed in just as Alex was entering, causing the two of us to bump into one another.
"Harper," He breathed, shocked to see me; hearing my name, both Reggie and Luke looked over, their eyes wide.
"Hey," I smile at Alex, "I was hoping we could talk," I said again, this time talking to all three of the boys; Luke's brows furrowed in concern, which wasn't too weird considering our last conversation.
"Yeah, of course," Luke nodded, gesturing for me to sit with them, "everything okay?"
"I just wanted to say," I take a breath, mentally preparing myself for the two words I was about to say. "I'm sorry." It takes everything inside of me not to cringe at this moment, "I overreacted last night; it was just so nice seeing you again," I say this to Luke, "all of you," I correct myself, "that when you ran out, I took it personally."
"You don't have to apologize," Luke reassured; the look he was giving me felt intimate; it was the one he used to give me so many times in the past, "we shouldn't have run out like that."
"No," I shook my head, "you guys had a commitment with your band; I understand why you did." I really didn't; what made this little band of theirs so much better than being a part of Caleb's band? "I was just hoping we could try being friends again," I add, glancing at all three of them with hopeful eyes.
"You still want to be our friend?" Reggie asked, his eyes wide, "even after Luke-"
"We'd like that," Alex cut Reggie off, elbowing him slightly to stop, "I, for one, have missed having you around," He admitted; I don't know why, but hearing those words made my heart flutter; it was hard to imagine someone missing me, "It's hard being the only voice of reason."
"I can't imagine," I shake my head in amusement, "Then again, I put up with Willie and Maya," I instantly regret bringing up Willie once I see Alex's expression fall slightly.
"Hey, you don't happen to know if Willie was here?" He asks; I frowned, shaking my head; another thing I'd become pretty good at over the years, lying.
"No, I think he and Maya were doing something today," I make up on the spot; Alex nods sadly, "if there anything else you need help with, though, let me know, I can be your ghost Yoda," I add in the last part, knowing how happy it'll make Reggie.
"Have you ever been electrocuted?" Reggie asked almost immediately, his eyes wide; I furrowed my brows as if I was confused, but I'm 90% sure I know what he's talking about; one of the side effects to the stamp are these jolts; they get worse as time goes on, until they strike you hard enough that you're gone, forever.
"I haven't, no," I shake my head, chuckling as if I had no clue what he was referring to, "I'm not an expert in that area, unfortunately, sorry, Reg."
"I think there's something you can help us with, though," Luke says, his voice more serious than moments ago, "Julie quit the band." I resist the urge to smile; getting Julie to quit the band was something I had been hoping to accomplish during my time away from the club; I just didn't imagine it would happen without my own intervention.
"Cause you were late?" I ask, acting as if I am shocked and disappointed by the news, "I'm sorry."
"She's really mad," Luke continued, emphasizing the word really, "maybe you could help her see how sorry we are; she'll probably listen to a girl better." The last thing I wanted to do was help this girl forgive them; if I were her, I'd be mad too; but this was also a perfect way to get the plan started; if Julie doesn't forgive them, they'll have nowhere else to turn to, meaning they'll willingly want to join the club and Caleb's plan.
"I can try," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "but you guys know her better than me," I remind them; when Julie doesn't forgive them, I need to make sure they can't put any blame on me, "maybe I can just consult?"
"That would be great," Luke smiled at me, "thank you, Harper." Hearing him say my name somehow felt familiar and foreign all at once, Luke was looking at me as if I was Harper Paige, the nerdy tutor girl who he loved so long ago; but I wasn't that girl anymore, and I will not let nostalgia and familiarity drag me back down.
"We should probably head back now anyway," Alex said, nodding towards the clock on the wall, "Julie gets home from school in a couple of hours." Reggie and Alex both poof away, but I grab Luke's hand before he can do the same.
"I don't know where I'm going," I remind him, one of the many unwritten ghost rules, you can't teleport to somewhere you've never seen or been before.
"Oh, uh," Luke stutters, staring down at my hand, which was still placed on top of his, "yeah, sorry." Seeing that I was able to make Luke so nervous felt weirdly good, especially when I did not feel the same; as difficult and annoying as it may be, I can and will use this to my advantage.
"lead the way, Patterson," I smirk, linking my fingers through his as he poofs the two of us out of the coffee shop. • •
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