The Other Side of Hollywood | Luke Patterson

SIXTEEN✨

I hadn't realized how much time I spent putting the flier in Julie's dad's car until I poofed into the café; Julie, the boys, and some girl I hadn't met yet all stood at the front of the club, watching the stage as a bunch of girls in multicolored wigs performed on the stage.

"Well, this is..." I pause, trying to find a word to describe the girl group in front of us; while they were talented and entertaining, they definitely weren't my style per se.

"I know right," Luke nodded, chuckling lightly; I hated how he knew what I meant without me having to say anything, I could feel Luke watching me, but I kept my eyes forward; at one point, Alex poofed onto the center of the stage, dancing along with the five girls on stage. I bit my lip, trying to keep my expression neutral, but it was hard not to smile at the scene in front of me.

"You having fun out there?" Julie asked Alex as he poofed back over; the four of us looked over with smirks on our faces.

"It's not my fault, it's my um," Alex clears his throat nervously, "it's my feet."

"Oh yeah, for sure," I agree sarcastically, nodding my head.

"Put me back in, coach," He mumbles, poofing back onto the stage; I shake my head in amusement, giggling as he begins dancing once more. I can feel Luke's eyes watching me again, and this time I give in and look back; he's smiling so brightly that his eyes are squinting happily, it shocks me a little bit, what did I do?

"What?" I chuckle, squinting at him in confusion.

"It's just," Luke pauses, thinking over what he's about to say, "You laughed." I hadn't even realized I'd done it; it felt like second nature to laugh at Alex's weird antics, but I shouldn't be doing that; I cannot get attached again.

"Oh?" I said it came out more like a question than a statement.

"It's a good thing," He reassured me quickly, noticing that my expression had fallen, "I missed hearing your laugh." I wait for him to crack a joke or turn away to watch the performance going on, but his eyes stay locked on mine, showing he was being genuine. Even during our relationship, I rarely laughed; I was pretty uptight in high school, but Luke was always the one person who could make me laugh. I can remember many nights he'd be able to get me into fits of giggles; he always told me my laugh was his favorite sound. Snap out of it Harper, I tore my gaze away from his, looking back onto the stage; I am supposed to be the one charming him into coming to the club, not the other way around. I'd been so busy talking to Luke that by the time I turned to look at the stage, Alex was posing for the applauding crowd; he poofed over seconds later.

"Hey, um," He greeted us awkwardly, breathless from all the dancing he'd been doing, "I was just... I was just doing that for you guys."

"Mm-hmm," Reggie hummed in response, sarcastically nodding his head, "yeah, you can stop smiling now." Alex chuckled, smiling bashfully at the four of us who were watching him.

"I'm not gonna lie," Julie turned away from us to speak to the girl next to her, "that was kind of good."

"Yeah, I forgot why I hate her so much," The other girl admitted; Just as she said that the girl with the pink hair strutted off stage, the rest of the rainbow following behind.

"Hi, girls, um, isn't it past your bedtime?" She greeted in an annoying high-pitched tone; while everyone else's expressions fell, I held back a smirk, finally someone who isn't dull and polite.

"Now I remember," Julie's friend pointed out, completely ignoring the pink-haired girls greeting.

"Hmm," She hummed in annoyance, "If you're looking for Nick, he didn't come," I wasn't sure who Nick was, but I didn't really care; this girl had an attitude, I respect her for it.