The Other Side of Hollywood | Luke Patterson

SEVENTEEN✨

Once we poofed back to the studio, the boys insisted we go into Julies' house to wait for her; so now, here I am against my own will sitting in-between Alex and Luke as we await the return of their other band member. So far, the plan is going horribly; every time I try bringing up the club during our wait, her little brother makes some loud remark about ghosts, taking the boys' attention away from me.

"For the last time, mijo," His aunt shook her head, flicking on the light switch, "Ghosts are not real." I rolled my eyes, if only she knew.

"Typical adult," Reggie exclaimed, "do you remember when we were kids, and they never believed what we said?" Alex and I shared a glance; the two of us were always every teacher's favorite, meaning we never got into the same amount of trouble that Luke and Reggie did.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's just a you thing," Alex remarked, shaking his head in disagreement.

"We were always pretty trustworthy," I add; I hated how much I liked making witty remarks with Alex; it felt like high school again.

"She's not wrong," Luke shrugged; he hadn't spoken much since we'd left the club, he seemed the most worried about Julie getting caught; it's very apparent how much this band means to him, "I'm pretty sure my parents trusted Harper more then they trusted me."

"Pretty sure?" I asked, squinted at him teasingly; every time I made one of these witty comments, it felt like I was cracking slowly and slowly, becoming the girl I used to be; Luke smiled lightly, but I could still see the worry in his eyes, "You okay?" I don't want to ask, but it's obvious something is wrong.

"I'm just worried," He answered honestly, "Julie's dad is probably making her quit the band as we speak." The sadness on Luke's face made me feel conflicted; on the one hand, if she did quit, then they'll be more likely to join the club, but on the other hand, the boys looked alive tonight, more alive than I've felt in my 25 years of being at the club, did I really want to take that away from them?

"Well, there's not much we can do about that now," Reggie reminded him; I wasn't expecting this response from the usually optimistic boy, but I appreciated it none the less. Once they lose hope in this band, they'll want to join Caleb's, "but, we can still help Carlos, adults not believing children ends tonight." Before any of us could ask what he meant, he reached for the switch of the lamp behind him, "showtime." Carlos and his aunt both gasp as the light shuts off, causing Reggie to smirk proudly; I wanted to feel annoyed like Alex and Luke both clearly were, but I was getting kind of bored just sitting here and waiting; at least Reggie was making things interesting.

"Ghosts aren't real, huh?" Carlos remarked, nodding towards the lamp, "how do you explain that?"

"Light bulbs burn out all the time, Carlos," She reminded him in a knowing tone.

"Ooh, wrong answer Tia" Reggie winced, moving off the chair he sat on, "explain this," As Reggie flickers the blinds open and closed, Luke and Alex shared an annoyed glance; probably expecting me to feel the same, but instead I'm biting my lip, holding back a grin.

"Seriously?" Alex asks, throwing his hands up in the air, "you can't seriously find this funny," I hated to admit it, but I did, I guess I haven't realized it till now, but no one at the club was really "funny" or made jokes the way Reggie, Alex, and Luke did.

"Maybe it's my mom," The little boy exclaimed in a hopeful tone; I looked away from Alex and over to the little boy; the loss I saw in Julie's eyes earlier finally made sense; she was referring to her mom, "she knows I haven't been replacing the toilet paper!"

"Your mama would never scare us," The aunt exclaimed, placing her hands on his shoulders, "this is the work of the demon." Reggie immediately stopped flickering the blinds after she said this, a frown taking over his face.