The Rhythm Guitarist

part two

"There we go!" Ray said, as he put down the bowl of spaghetti, "Okay. Let's do this."

"Let's do it," Carlos said as everyone sat down and held hands, leaving a spot open for Rose's spirit. Luka was sitting to the right of Carlos.

"Your turn, Carlos," Ray said as everyone closed their eyes.

"Thank you for our leftovers and the power of the mighty microwave. Amen."

"Amen." everyone followed.

"So," Ray began as he started giving out spaghetti, "Carlos tells me he found you two in the studio."

"They were out there talking to themselves," Carlos explained, causing Luka and Julie to look at each other.

"We were rehearsing for a play," Luka explained.

"Hello, hello!" a woman said, causing everyone to quietly panic.

"Oh, busted!" Carlos whispered as they cleared Rose's spot.

"Yeah, we're in here." Ray announced, "Quick!" he quietly hurried the kids, throwing a fork on the ground behind the island.

"Huh! Spaghetti. Again?" the woman asked. It was Julie's Aunt Victoria, doing her 'Daily Dinner Check-in'.

"Yeah." Ray smiled, as everyone continued to eat.

"Oh, hey Lucky!" Victoria greeted cheerfully.

"Hi, Victoria," Luka said with a smile, not because she liked the woman per se, but because she was in a house that wasn't hers.

"Anyways, that's too bad. I brought you my pasteles and arroz con pollo," she explained.

"Yum." Ray hurried.

"Mhm!" Luka agreed.

"Thanks, tia. It smells great." Julie said, still with food in her mouth.

"Eh, you can have it tomorrow." Victoria said, "I can't let you have leftovers every night." she said as she put the food in the fridge, "My sister would kill me, may she rest in peace." she said as she walked over to the table, "Hey Luka?"

"Yes?" Luka managed to mumble since she'd just taken a mouthful.

"How come you're sitting next to Carlos, and not here?" she asked gesturing to Rose's seat.

"Oh! Well, that's simply just because I've always wanted a brother, and I figured having such old parents like me, Carlos is the closest thing I'll ever get to one." Luka lied, although the lie wasn't completely false, she had always wanted a brother.

"Oh, how sweet, you hear that?" she asked Carlos, he just nodded. "Oh... I see things here are going better?" she asked, standing next to Julie.

"Actually... Julie and Luka here, have been cleaning out Rose's studio." Ray said, "Hopefully, we can get the house on the market soon and get some offers."

"Well, I like the sound of that." Victoria started, "Moving from here is only gonna help you move on. You've got to rip that band-aid off and get the pain over with."

Just as she said that Alex, Luke, and Reggie, all came waltzing through the front door, they didn't even open it. This caused the two girls to look at each other in panic.

Julie yelled. Causing the three boys to stans where they were. Everyone looked at her, so she just chuckled awkwardly, "That's me. Ripping off the band-aid." making Carlos and Luka chuckle.

"There's my brave girl," Victoria said, grabbing Julie's chin and slightly shaking it.

"Hey, Julie. I really like what you guys did with the place." Luke said, causing Luka to cringe, and Julie to look at him.