𝐑𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 | 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬

𝟒𝟏 | 𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲

The following morning, Luke decided to join me on my daily walk. We went to the Redwood National and State Park, where we wandered amongst the trees for a few hours. If I had a nickel for every time Luke pretended to climb one of those trees, I would've been the richest ghost in the world.

"Okay, fine," Luke said, as he wandered toward the next tree. "I'll actually climb this one, okay?"

I crossed my arms and watched as Luke placed his foot on the trunk.

"Whoa!" Luke exclaimed, pointing to the sky. "Is that a spaceship?"

I looked up, humouring him once again, to see that there was nothing in the blue sky but a few wispy clouds. When I looked back, Luke was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh my god," I deadpanned. "Where did Luke go?"

"Up here!" Luke exclaimed from above.

The trees were so tall, I couldn't quite see the top. The blinding sun didn't help.

"Wow," I said with a severe amount of sarcasm. "How'd you do that so fast?"

Luke reappeared beside me. "You're no fun."

"That's not what you said last night," I teased, to which Luke grinned.

"Hey, where'd you leave my hoodie by the way?"

"I don't know," I mused. "Guess I'll need another one."

Luke smiled that cheeky smile of his and took my hand. "Come on, I want to show you something."

We vanished from the ground only to reappear in the clouds.

"Luke!"

"What?" Luke chuckled. "Afraid of dying or something?"

We were sitting atop of the tallest redwood tree in California, looking over the vast forest before us. It was quite a breathtaking sight. But of course I, a ghost, was too afraid of falling from the tree to notice.

"Oh come on," Luke said, wrapping an arm around me. "I won't let you fall."

"I don't think it's possible but," I peered over the edge. "I think we're going to die."

Luke laughed, but the sound quickly faded. "What do you think is gonna happen to us?"

I met his eyes, glad to look at anything other than the ground below and shook my head. "I really, truly, have no idea."

"You know, I always say the day you stop thinging is the day I start to worry."

I let out a chuckle. "Well, I thing about things that won't happen but whatever happens next could be anything."

We let that thought settle in as we observed the view before us. Birds were flying around like paper airplanes, so small we could just about make them out.

"It's so pretty up here," I said, placing my head on Luke's shoulder. I felt him open his mouth to speak. "Please don't ruin the moment by saying something cheesy like 'you're prettier'."

"Fine, I won't."

A brief silence fell over us.

I buried my face in my hands. "Just say it."

"The sun is jealous of your radiance," Luke said, as if he were reading a very dramatic poem. "Nature could never withhold such beauty!"

"I hate you."

"I love you."

———

When we arrived back the garage, Alex and Reggie were sitting around with somber looks on their faces. Reggie was sitting on a chair and plucking his bass as he stared into nothing. Alex was messing around with his drumsticks, taking up the whole sofa. Without so much as a 'hello,' Luke and I joined them. We sat on the floor, up against the couch, and cuddled into one another.

I don't know how long we were sitting there, but it was long enough to get a few zaps from whatever kind of curse Caleb had put on us. We had just experienced another one before Julie walked in.

"Snap out of it!" She exclaimed, causing all of us to jump.

Alex fell from the couch on top of Luke and I. Even though we were all completely transparent, it still hurt.

"Jeez," Reggie said. "I think you broke Alex."

"Yeah," I said, pushing Alex off me. "And I think Alex broke me."

"Do you guys wanna crossover or what?" Julie asked.

When we didn't respond, Julie clapped her hands loudly.

"Get! It! Together!"

"They're never gonna let us play the Orpheum," Luke informed her.

"We're nobody," Alex stated.

"We're less than nobody," Reggie added.

"We have no bodies," I contributed.

"Someone once told me that you don't ask for permission," Julie said. "You book gigs by doing."

"That was me," Reggie bragged.

"No, it wasn't," Luke and Julie corrected him.

"This isn't over," Julie encouraged. "We were brought together for a reason ; to help each other."

"Yeah, but like Luke said," Alex explained. "People don't just play the Orpheum because they want to."

"People don't," Julie shrugged.

I sat up and smirked mischievously. "But ghosts do."