Julie’s embrace felt warmer than any heat the guys could offer. She clung to him, desperate to hold onto the moment, refusing to let go. The world around her blurred, and she didn’t care about the tears staining her face, only that she didn’t have to say goodbye.
“What happens next?” Reggie asked softly, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
“I don’t know,” Julie replied, her voice equally gentle, taking both Alex and Reggie’s hands. She looked at Luke, adoration shining in her eyes. “We do it together.”
[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]
Two days later…
Sunlight sliced through the blinds, hitting Julie’s eyes. She rubbed them, yawned, and bolted upright. Checking her phone, she groaned – she’d overslept. She scrambled down the stairs in a panic.
“Morning, Mija,” her father greeted as Julie practically flew into the kitchen, snatching a piece of toast from her brother’s plate and darting back upstairs with it dangling from her mouth.
After rushing through getting dressed and brushing her teeth, she returned downstairs, backpack slung over her shoulder, ten minutes to spare. She pulled out her phone to call Flynn.
“I overslept, but I’m gonna make it perfectly on time,” Julie reassured her best friend.
“Let me guess,” Flynn sighed. “You and Luke were up all night writing songs.”
“Well, yes – but it’s more than that. I can touch the guys now, Flynn. This changes everything.” Julie smiled to herself. Flynn sighed again.
“I know you’re excited, but be careful, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt like that again.” Flynn’s voice was laced with worry. Julie appreciated Flynn’s protectiveness after her mother’s death, but wished she’d dial it back a notch.
“I will, but I really need to go. See you in a few.” She hung up before Flynn could protest further.
Julie headed for the front door, and stopped short, surprised to find Nick on the doorstep, flowers clutched in his hand, his back to her.
When she heard the door open, he spun around, flashing a smile. A strange, uneasy sensation prickled at Julie’s skin, but she tried to ignore it, telling herself it was just nerves.
“Hi! Nick!” Julie exclaimed, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.
He slowly walked over, handing her the bouquet. She relaxed slightly, brushing off her superstitious thoughts. “Thanks.”
“Do you want to walk to school together?” Nick asked, tucking his hands into his pockets. Julie nodded. “I’ll be right back,” she said, heading inside to put the flowers in a vase.
Inside, Julie filled a vase – one of many gifts from her aunt – with water, carefully arranging the flowers and setting it on the windowsill. Turning around, she nearly jumped when Luke was propped up on the kitchen counter.
“I thought I told you to stop doing that,” Julie said, hand over her heart.
“Sorry,” he apologized, glancing at the flowers Julie had just arranged. “Are those from that Rick guy?”
“His name is Nick,” Julie corrected with a smile, noticing Luke’s slight irritation. She had the impression he didn’t like Nick very much, though she didn’t know why.
“My mistake,” he said, his tone a little bitter. Julie was too busy checking her phone and glancing at Nick, who was patiently waiting on the porch, to notice.
“Is there something you wanted?” She asked, stepping toward Luke. He fidgeted with a folded piece of paper.
“Oh! Yeah. Your homework was in the studio… thought you’d need it.” Luke passed her the paper, chewing on the corner of his lip – a habit Julie had come to recognize when he was deep in thought.
She took the corner of the paper, and they stared at each other for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.
“Julie, is everything alright?” Nick’s voice called from the porch, snapping Julie out of her gaze. Luke released the paper, gesturing for her to go to school. She gave him a small wave and headed outside.
The walk to school was filled with mixed emotions. Nick was chatty one moment, distant the next. Julie decided not to pry, wondering if something was going on at home, or with Carrie.
Once at school, she immediately went in search of Flynn, leaving Nick to greet his friends. His eyes, however, remained fixed on her until she disappeared from sight.
She found Flynn by her locker and confessed her weird run-in with Nick, pausing occasionally for Flynn’s input and raised eyebrows.
“Maybe he was just tired?” Flynn said, but Julie wasn’t convinced. “Anyway, class is about to start!” Julie was right – class was about to start. Not the best way to kick off getting back into the music program.
Fortunately, their teacher wasn’t there yet, much to Julie and Flynn’s relief.
“Look who finally decided to show up,” Carrie sneered, earning a glare from Flynn, who had dubbed Carrie and her friends “slaves.”
“Go back to poisoning your apple, Carrie,” Flynn retorted, scrunching her nose.
The teacher arrived moments later, settling the class down and explaining their assignment for the next few weeks.
“For the next month or so, we shall be doing a play for your grades,” she announced, earning groans from the class.
“Let me guess, it’s Romeo and Juliet,” Flynn whispered to Julie.
“It is Romeo and Juliet, but there’s a twist.”
“We’re making it a musical!”
Flynn pressed her lips together and nodded sarcastically. Julie shook her head, smiling at her best friend’s annoyance. Carrie and Nick would likely get the leads, they were perfect together on paper – and Julie was far too busy with the band to care.
After the bell rang, she wondered what the guys were doing.