𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬

𝟑𝟓 | 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐭𝐞

We reappeared in Julie's new and improved bedroom. I fell back onto her bed with a sigh. I'm pretty sure there was a unicorn plushie going through my head.

"Whoa, what's all this?" Alex looked around in awe of all the sequins and colours.

"We're having a girls night," It didn't come out as enthusiastically as I had originally planned.

Alex noticed my tone and lay down beside me. "You heard all that, huh?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I also didn't want to interrupt rehearsal."

"Yeah, I get it," Alex turned to face me. "But you heard everything Luke said, right? He really likes you. Like a lot."

"I know," I turned to face Alex, knowing he would understand my overthinking. "But if he can look at just anyone like that - even Reggie, somehow - how do I know he's not just looking at me like that?"

"Well, that's easy," Alex laughed. "Because he doesn't look at you like that."

"But you guys said - "

"We were only winding Luke up," Alex admitted. "We brought up Julie because we wanted to know what was going on with you two."

"That doesn't make sense Alex," I shook my head. "Couldn't you just ask him?"

"Not exactly," Alex said. "Luke only opens up like that to us when he's caught off guard. We knew bringing up Julie and him would get him to talk about you."

"Guys, am I right?" I shook my head.

"Yeah," Alex laughed. "So unnecessarily complicated."

"What about Willie?" I asked.

"Last time we talked - and I'm pretty sure it's the last time we'll ever talk - he said 'We never should have met' and only mildly broke my heart a little."

"Want me to go talk to him?" I punched my palm threateningly. "Just a friendly little chat?"

"No, thanks for the offer, though," Alex laughed. "You're terrifying."

"I know you're joking, but thank you."

We lay there in silence for a bit, partly contemplating our life choices and partly admiring all my hard work.

"I meant what I said though," Alex said, breaking the silence.

"What? That you'll take me up on my offer?" I sat up and pointed towards the door. "I can go now."

"No," Alex chuckled. "Luke looks at Julie - and apparently Reggie - like he's trying to put on a show, but he looks at you like you're ... like you're the antidote."

I smiled and my face flushed. "Maybe you should take up song-writing that was beautiful."

Alex snickered, but stopped suddenly as his eyes darted to the door. I turned around to see Julie drop her schoolbag to the floor.

"What is going on in here?"

Alex and I exchanged a look before turning back to Julie.

"Girls night!"

———

We all spent the rest of the day catching up. We considered painting each other's nails, but Julie's hand went right through us when she tried and she didn't trust me not to spill the nail polish all over her bed - which was fair considering I could only hold the bottle for a few seconds at a time.

We settled for a dance party instead. Turns out, Julie had a Spice Girls playlist - some modern tech thing that I assumed was the equivalent to a mixtape. We were even introduced to some new artists - and my god, did we die at the wrong time. We just about missed the two-thousands and were even further away from the twenty-tens. Alex fell in love with Britney Spears - he made Julie play Toxic three times in a row.

"Alex, we need to catch up on twenty-five years of music," I reasoned. "We can't listen to the one song over and over again."

"This is twenty-five years of music!" Alex retorted as he danced around.

We eventually moved away from Britney Spears, and Julie introduced us to Taylor Swift.

"Wait," I said as I stopped dancing to 22. "So she has country, pop, indie and folk music? Not to mention songs about heartbreak, love, rage, the patriarchy, the matriarchy, death, dancing and some girl named Betty?!"

"Pretty much," Julie nodded.

I shook my head in disbelief. "I think she is my idol."

Julie guided us through the different 'eras' - I was totally a Red girlie by the way - before introducing us to One Direction.

At some point during that turning point in our afterlives, Alex and I looked at each other and agreed that we would never be the same again. I sat back and observed as Julie and Alex fought over Harry Styles. I immediately fell in love with Louis Tomlinson, so I was safe from that war. I eventually had to step in and help them come to some sort of conclusion - Julie got Frat Boy Harry and Alex claimed Long Hair Harry.

"Wait," Julie paused the music. "What about Solo Harry?"

Alex and I exchanged a concerned glance. "WHAT?!"

After traumatically finding out that One Direction had broken up - and casually crying about it for almost an hour - we helped Julie pick out her outfit for the show. It was only an hour away by that point.

"We'd better get back," Alex said as he took off Julie's jewel-studded sunglasses. "But I don't wanna go."

"I do," I stood up, removing the feather boa from around my neck. "I need some time to process."

"Sorry you guys had to find out that way," Julie said empathetically.

"No," I raised a dismissive had. "I'm sorry you had to live through it."

"Maybe it's a good thing we ate those hot dogs," Alex suggested.

"Maybe," I agreed before we all burst into laughter.