The Other Side of Hollywood | Luke Patterson

TWELVE✨

When Alex said Julie would be home from school soon, I expected within the hour; instead, I had been sitting in some garage converted into a music studio for the past three hours, pretending to be interested in the boys apology strategies.

"So, you think she'll like it?" Reggie asked after they finished rehearsing for what felt like the 1000th time; I didn't know Julie, but I knew girls, no girl would find this apology good enough.

"Mhm," I hummed, nodding my head, "who wouldn't want a song written for them?" I added, moving to sit on the warn couch leaning against one of the walls.

"Oo, I hear footsteps," Alex whispered, gesturing for the other two boys to get into space; I wanted to remark that it could just be a false alarm and the little boy from earlier, but a girl walked in before I got the chance.

"We're sorry," Reggie sang, popping out from behind Luke.

"So sorry," Alex sang, coming out on the other side.

"We're super-duper, crazy, stupid," Luke sang; for a song they spent three hours writing, it definitely wasn't Luke's best.

"Sorry," The three of them sang, ending their song with Jazz hands.

"In case you missed it, we're really sorry," Reggie spoke first; as expected, Julie's face remained blank.

"Yeah, I got that part," She nodded, unimpressed; it wasn't until I stood from the couch and walked up behind the boys that she noticed my presence, "who is this?" She asked, gesturing to me.

"Hi, I'm Harper," I waved, forcing a friendly smile onto my face, "I'm an old friend of the boys; you must be Julie, I've heard so much about you." Julie glances from the boys to me, I can see the wheels turning in her mind, "the boys have been working on this for like three hours," I add, trying to lighten the mood; this girl is way tougher than I thought she'd be, which might work as an advantage for me.

"We almost sang to your little brother," Luke jokes, standing up his kneeling position.

"He comes in here a lot," Reggie explained, "mainly to use the bathroom."

"Yeah," Alex cringes, I can't help but grimace as well, "it's not our favorite part of the day."

"But Julie, it wasn't okay that we flaked on the dance last night; we know we let you down." Luke gets back on course, apologizing for last night. When I had learned why they needed to leave so bad was because of some school dance, it took everything in me not to show my annoyance; they wanted to perform in a sweaty gym full of teenagers over the most elite club in Hollywood?

"Yeah, and none of us wanted to disappoint you," Alex added, "you're the best thing that's happened to us since we became ghosts." I wanted to applaud Julie for remaining so stone-cold; if the circumstances were different, I'd like this girl.

"So, in hopes that you'll rejoin the band," Luke sang, stepping forward with the flier from the coffee shop; the icing on top of the cake, the boys booked a gig before they even apologized, if I were Julie, I'd be annoyed by this. "We booked a new gig."

"A mega important, life-changed gig," Reggie added, placing his hand on Alex's and I's shoulder; I took in an annoyed breath, resisting the urge to knock his hand off my shoulder.

"Oh, okay, check it out; tons of managers go here to listen to new bands," Luke explains, pointing at the flier, "all we gotta do is blow them all away, and we're living the dream."

"So, this means a lot to you, huh?" Julie asked, sarcasm evident in her voice, "kind of how playing in front of my whole entire school meant a lot to me."

"Sounds like sarcasm," Reggie noted, then he gasped and turned to face me, "Harper, I'm starting to think our plan isn't working." He whispered to me, still loud enough for everyone else to hear. I planned on staying back and letting the boy's apology plan crash and burn in front of me, that is until Alex nudged me forward, shooting me a pleading glance. I shouldn't have told the boys I would intervene if things were going as they planned cause now here we are.

"Look, Julie," I stepped forward, "the boys know they messed up, but it isn't all their fault," I resist the urge to cringe, "We bumped into each other last night and lost track of time if anything you should blame me." Being selfless was not one of my many attributes, so saying these things felt out of character.

"did you think bringing her here would help me forgive you?" Julie scoffed, pointing to me, "look, it's not your fault," Julie said to me, "but I'm not in the market for bandmates who aren't committed." I didn't say anything else; Julie was doing everything I'd hoped she do.

"But we need you in the band," Luke reminded her, his voice more serious than it had been moments ago.

"Of course, you do," Julie remarked; I bit my lip holding back a grin, from the tone of her voice, I knew she was about to snap, "because, without me, no one can see guys playing." Luke opened his mouth to argue, but she cut him off, "You know, I thought the music that we were writing was special, but you're too obsessed with your past to even care."

"I do care," Luke fought back; I hated that I agreed with him because I knew Luke did care about the band more than anything; I mean, I would no better than anyone; I'm the person who gets thrown to the side because of his stupid bands. "Our band has a real chance at greatness; I'm not gonna let that get away from us again."

"Uh-huh, right," She nodded, "so then why did you bail on me to get back at Trevor?" I opened my mouth to remind her they were with me, but she held her hand out, shushing me, "do you really think I believe all you did last night was bump into an old friend?" She asked, shaking her head, "if you really cared, why would you need to get back at Trevor in the first place?" She continued, "I'll tell you why, cause if there's only one thing you care about, and that's yourself." If the circumstances were different, I would applaud her for saying the word I'd been longing to say to Luke; she nailed it right on the head. Before any of the boys could reply, she stormed away; none of the boys plead for her to stay.

"Dude, she didn't mean it," Alex reminded Luke; I nodded in agreement, but I believed different, Julie meant every word of what she said to Luke.

"Luke," I stepped forward, trying to sound comforting; He glanced back at me sadly, poofing away before I could reach him.

"Where's he going?" Reggie asked; I turned to face him and Alex, who both watched the place where Luke was standing moments ago sadly.

"Where do you think he's going? Remember what today is?" I furrowed my brows at the blond boy's answer, was today something important? It's been 25 years, so my memory of all the days that used to be so important to me has been pushed away; I didn't need to remember those things anymore anyway.

"What's today?" I asked; Alex and Reggie shared a sad look.

"It's his birthday," Alex reminded me, "He's going-"

"Home," I cut him off, saying those words make my heart sink; I hadn't thought of my home for a very long time; after the first five years, I figured they moved on, so I pushed myself to do the same. "I'll go get him," I tell the boys. I didn't want to go near that place ever again, but maybe this was the push Luke needed to stay at the club with me, "stay here," I instruct them; the plan was going smoother than I imagined it going; Julie snapped, Luke ran off upset, and I'm 99% sure their band is not getting back together. If things kept going the way I wanted, the boys could be back at the club by tonight, and then, I could ignore them and resume my normal afterlife.

🤍
Yay! Harper finally met Julie
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