𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬

𝟑𝟐 | 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬

"You were incredible!" Flynn told Julie as she made her way into the crowd.

"Yeah, we were!" Reggie exclaimed as we all appeared behind them.

"Not as incredible as Luke, though, right Ruth?" Alex nudged me in the side playfully, to which I rolled my eyes. "No, but seriously, we're happy for you guys."

"Thanks, man," Luke smiled as he pinched my cheek.

I swatted his hand away. "Thanks."

"What's going on over here?" Julie smirked. "Did you two finally realise you were made for each other?"

"It was only one kiss, calm down."

"Three, actually," Luke corrected with a cheeky grin. "But who's counting?"

"What's going on?" Flynn asked, unable to hear our side of the conversation.

"Ghost goals," Julie loosely explained.

"Hey! Hey!" Luke exclaimed. "Whoever Carrie was trying to impress is coming this way!"

"She looks all business," Alex said, admiring her outfit.

"Wait!" Reggie panicked. "Who should do the talking?"

Julie gave him a look.

"Right, Julie. Julie."

"You got this!" Luke encouraged.

"Hi, I'm Andi Parker," The woman extended her hand. "And I would like to - "

"Julie!"

"Dad!"

Our afterlife flashed before our eyes as we watched Julie's dad ruin the opportunity of an afterlifetime.

"It's time to go."

———

We arrived home before Julie and waited for her in the lounge. The lights were off and Carlos was on the hunt for some ghosts. Just as he thought he had finally found one, his aunt, Victoria, turned on the lights and told him that ghosts weren't real. Right in front of us.

"Typical adults," Reggie said. "Remember when we were kids and they never believed what we said?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's just a you thing," Alex replied. "I was always pretty trustworthy."

"Must've been nice," I sighed.

"Shouldn't we be more worried about Julie?" Luke jumped in. "Her dad just busted her, okay? He's probably making her quit the band."

"Well, there's not much we can do about that now," Reggie explained. "But we can still help Carlos. Adults not believing children ends tonight."

"Hell yeah!" I exclaimed, rubbing my hands together in anticipation.

"Showtime," Reggie said as he switched off the lamp beside him.

Carlos and Victoria gasped.

"Ghosts aren't real, huh?" Carlos asked. "How do you explain that?"

"Light bulbs burn out all the time, Carlos," Victoria explained.

"Ooh, wrong answer, Tía!" Reggie beamed as he got up from the couch. "Explain this."

Reggie walked over to the window and started flashing the blinds.

"Maybe it's my mom!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Touchy subject!" I said as a threw the nearest object - an empty roll of toilet paper - in his direction.

"She knows I haven't been replacing the toilet paper!"

"Your mama would never scare us!" Victoria exclaimed. "This is the work of a demon!"

Reggie stopped flashing the blinds. "Hey, words hurt."

"Yeah, Vicky," I sighed. "We used to be tight."

"Wait!" Carlos exclaimed. "I got to get it on video."

"Yeah, you do!" Reggie said. "Time for an old classic. Ruth?"

Reggie handed me a blanket that was thrown across the sofa. I nodded in understanding. Reggie found himself sheet and we threw them over our heads. We started wiggling around and Victoria let out a scream.

As I started to chime ghostly sounds, a microphone appeared on the side of my head. You know, one of the ones singers that do a lot of choreography use. I turned it on.

"Boo!" I exclaimed, and from what I could hear, it rang throughout the house.

Victoria screamed once again and dragged Carlos out of the room. Reggie and I laughed as we removed the sheets from around us.

"How did you do that?" Reggie asked.

"I don't know, this old thing just appeared," I shrugged. "Nice touch, don't you think?"

"Totally."

We turned around to see unimpressed looks on Alex and Luke's faces. I felt my microphone disappear.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, we do," Reggie said matter-of-factly. "We've defended every kid who's never been believed. Some might say we're superheroes."

"True that," I added in as I high-fived Reggie.

"We should probably hide before Julie finds out, huh?" Reggie quickly added before poofing out.

Alex rolled his eyes before following after him. Just as I was about to do the same, Luke gestured for me to sit down beside him. I was expecting a lecture, but instead, he put an arm around me and I lay my head on his chest.

"What's up?" I asked when he didn't say anything.

"I'm worried about this whole Julie thing," Luke said. "Like, what if her dad stops her from being in the band? We're done for."

I thought for a moment before speaking.

"Do you want me honest opinion?" I asked, and when Luke nodded, I continued. "I don't know this guy very well, but I knew Rose well, and she wouldn't have married and had two kids with a guy who didn't understand her passion for music. That passion lives on through Julie and I'm sure he sees that too. I don't think he'll take her out of the band."

"Thanks, Ruth," Luke said, placing his chin on my head. "I hope you're right."

"I'm always right," I joked. "It's a result of overthinking everything."

Luke laughed. "Whatever you say, Thinger."