𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐄; Luke Patterson

eighteen

Please read the final note, it's very important

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The sound of stuff falling downstairs woke me up suddenly. I touched my phone seeing that it was already 11 am so I should definitely get out of bed.
I walk down the flight of stairs, all the way to the kitchen and smile when I see my mom, still in her pajamas, cooking some pancakes for us.

"It smells good." I say making my presence known. She looks up from the pan and walks to me, giving me a kiss on the forehead.

"Good morning sleepyhead." She says and I smile. She really changed this past week and I couldn't be happier. "I was thinking that we could eat like a brunch thing instead of breakfast and lunch since you woke up so late and I have to get to work in less than an hour." She explains getting back to the counter where I noticed toast and a billion other stuff she already cooked laying around.

"It seems perfect." I smile sincerely. "I probably won't be here when you get home today. I'm going to see one of my friends perform at the orpheum." I warn her so that the text incident from the other night doesn't repeat itself.

"Oh that's fine. Have fun!" She smiles looking up at me for a few seconds.

After a pleasant meal that actually made us bond and catch up on the things we didn't know from each other because of how distant we were this past years, we parted ways. It was nice having someone to greet you when you wake up, to text saying they are worried when you're not home and, most importantly, someone worthy coming home to.

Even though I was supposed to go to Julie's and help her get ready for the night, I texted her saying I couldn't make it and that I would meet her at the orpheum before the show. Honestly, I didn't want to face Luke at the moment. I didn't know what to say or how to act around him and that bothered me. I never felt like this about anyone and knowing that I had to give him up so that I wouldn't hurt Julie, hurt me a lot.

I spent the day doing absolutely nothing, just passing the time watching Netflix and scrolling through my social media. After having something to eat for dinner, I started getting ready to go out. It was the orpheum and you had to look presentable to be there.

After getting ready, I got on my motorcycle and rode to the orpheum.
I texted Julie saying that I was outside and Flynn appeared to take me to her dressing room.

"How long till you go on?" I ask when I finished doing her makeup.

"20 minutes." She answers and I could see the uncertainty in her voice. Why were the boys not here yet?

"Don't worry." I try to calm her down. "They were more excited to play here than you." I add patting her shoulder.

Me and Julie ran out of conversation themes so we just slumped back on our chairs and started scrolling through social media.

"5 minutes." Flynn said opening the door cheerfully. " what happened?" She asks confused when she noticed both mine and Julie's frown.

"They are not here." I answer for Julie.

"With or without them. You can do this Julie!" Flynn encouraged her best friend, kneeling by her side.

"No, I can't." I heard a small sniffle from Julie. "The only reason I started singing again was because of them. I can't do this without them." She whispered.

"I can't believe they stood you up again." Flynn sighed

"They wouldn't do that!" I defend the boys. "Something must have happened." I state, completely certain of my words.

"Do you think that we were too late and they are already gone?" Julie asked looking at me.

"I don't want to think of the worst." I gulp, pushing down the tears that wanted to come out. They can't be gone.

"You should perform. For them." Flynn insisted and I nodded agreeing with her.

"I'm going to leave you two to talk." I say and give them some privacy.

I walk to the audience and see the blonde girl that constantly picked on Julie sitting down with her father ready to watch the show. Wait she's Trevor Wilson's daughter? I did not know that.

After a few minutes outside, I decided to go backstage again and see how they were doing.
Before I could enter the dressing room, I noticed a bunch of flowers tied with a white ribbon outside of the door. Someone must have left it for Julie.

"Hey, someone left this out for you." I said and her eyes widen instantly.

"Those are her favorite flowers! This is my sign, I'm going to perform." Julie squealed excitedly and ran out of the room with Flynn close behind.

"O..k(?)" I mumble confused.

I follow Flynn and stand beside her while Julie seats by the piano and starts her performance.

"What just happened?" I ask Flynn still taken back by Julie's outburst.

"She thinks her mom sent her those flowers." Flynn answered. Oh... she thinks this is a message from her mother. That's beautiful.

Julie's melodic voice is heard and immediately I focus all my attention on her. I could tell that she was a bit shy in the first few verses but as soon as the chorus came, she let loose a bit.
Out of a sudden, Alex appears playing the drums and I smile widely. They are ok.
Reggie is the next and finally, Luke who struggles a bit as if he is already fading.
He looks my way but I advert my gaze to the ground. I like him, I really do but it just can't happen. I can't hurt Julie, she deserves to be happy.

I feel a push that made me trip into the stage so that everybody could see me. I look back at Flynn and she motions saying that it was Luke's idea.
He walks to my side and starts singing, looking straight into my eyes. My knees felt week, his presence did unexplainable things to my body. The proximity was killing me and, thankfully, it was time to join the others center stage to finish the song and thank the audience.

"Come." He whispers in my ear with his face millimeters apart from my neck.

I join Julie and stand by her side while the boys stand on the other side of her. They finish the song and smile at the audience.
Both me and Julie bow down taking in the cheering coming from the audience when we stand back up, the boys are gone.

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IMPORTANT QUESTION

Would you prefer if I left the story with an open finale like the tv show (that would mean that the book finishes in one/two chapters) or that I would actually finish the story, not giving it room for a second season or book?
Thank you for all the love you've been giving this book, it truly means the world to me ❤️