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𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧

ＣＨＡＰＴＥＲ  ＳＥＶＥＮ:
admitted crushes

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BUTTERFLIES. THAT WAS all Emilia felt when she was around Luke. It was so completely and utterly stupid — considering that he was a ghost — but there was just something about him that drew her in. The two of them had taken Reggie's advice to collaborate on songs, so they had spending more and more time alone together. Lyrics scribbled down on pages of both of their journals joined their souls together as they both worked on something that they were passionate about.

Emilia, quite possibly the happiest she had been in a while, hummed a melody of one of her and Luke's songs to herself as she rustled through her locker. She grabbed the binder needed for her next class and tucked it into the crook of her arm. When she shut her locker, she saw the eager faces of Flynn and Julie standing behind it.

"Hey," Emilia greeted, smiling at her two best friends. "What's up?"

"We want to hear them," Julie replied. "You told me Luke swung by your place this weekend and that you spent all your time writing songs. And, as part of the band, I am entitled to hear them."

It was true. Luke had appeared in her bedroom when Emilia was sitting at her keyboard, trying to write lyrics to a melody that had popped into her head. Luke helped her out tremendously and they both assisted each other in coming up with the words. After that, more songs just seem to be produced between the two of them. Apollo was a little concerned that Emilia seemed to be talking to herself, but she just played it off that he must've been hearing things.

Emilia laughed slightly. "Come on. I'll play you some."

She took off down the hall, Flynn and Julie right by her side.

Julie nudged her ribs with her elbow. "So, how was writing with him?"

"So easy," Emilia answered as they walked into the music room. "We have very similar outlooks on music. His ideas and my ideas . . . something really special came out of it." She sat down at the piano and lifted up the top to reveal the keys. "The first song we wrote is called Edge of Great." Emilia pressed her fingers to the keys and began to sing. "I believe, I believe that we're just one dream, away from who we're meant to be, that we're standing on the edge of. Something big, something crazy, our best is yet unknown, that this moment is ours to own, 'cause we're standing on the edge of great."

She played the last couple of notes before stopping. Emilia looked back up to see Julie and Flynn totally amazed.

"That's an incredible song, Em," Julie voiced.

Flynn nodded in agreement. "I like it. Definite Gaga vibes."

"Thank you," Emilia responded. "And with Julie's vocals added to it and the boys playing, it'll definitely be, well, great."

"You know what else is great?" Julie asked. "You having a crush on Luke."

Emilia's face immediately burned red. "What? Um, n-no, definitely not. The only Luke I like is Luke Hemmings."

Julie sent her a pointed look. "Emilia."

Emilia looked in between her and Flynn. They were both staring at her expectantly. And with the two of them knowing her better than she knew herself, Emilia couldn't exactly lie about her feelings to them.

She sighed, finally caving in. "Okay, okay, fine. He's incredibly cute and has the most amazing smile that I've probably ever seen. Are you happy now?"

Flynn smirked. "Extremely."

Emilia shook her head. "There's no way it would ever happen, though. I mean, he's a ghost and definitely would never like me back—"

"Woah," Julie interrupted. "Em, are you kidding? That boy looks at you like you like you're the only girl on the planet. Not to mention he's the only one who calls you Lia, you've shared a microphone on both songs we've sang as a band, and that he sneaks glances at you when you're not looking. I think that's a sign he feels something for you."

"And you can touch him," Flynn added. She paused for a moment. "Yet he's still made of air to the rest of us."

Julie hit her arm. "Shut up. She hasn't had a crush in such a long time."

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Em," Flynn admitted. "But it's no secret that you and Luke have a connection. Everyone's talking about when all of you guys will play again."

"Play again?" Julie inquired incredulously. "We don't even have anything planned."

Emilia pointed to the girl. "She's right. All Luke and I have been focused on is writing songs."

"Lucky for the two of you, your marketing team has been way ahead of you," Flynn stated.

Julie's eyebrows knit in confusion. "We don't have a marketing team."

Flynn then pulled out a flyer from her backpack that read Julie, Emilia, and their Hologram Band: tonight at the dance. "Yes, you do! And surprise! You're playing the school dance tonight, and I'm DJ-ing too." She handed the flyer to Emilia, and Julie rushed around the piano to get a better look at it. "I posted it all over social media. You have an excellent marketing team."

"No," Julie protested. "No. This is in front of the whole school."

Flynn's phone buzzed, and she took it out of her pocket to check it. "Sorry, you already have sixty-eight likes."

"Oh my God, Flynn," Emilia let out, scrambling up from the piano bench and following after the girl. "Flynn!"

"You're not getting out of it!"

Emilia stopped in her tracks as Flynn continued to run down the hallway. She shook her head with a small laugh.

"Guess we've got our first gig," Julie announced.

"Guess so," Emilia breathed out.

Her stomach erupted in butterflies again, and it wasn't from Luke this time. It was from both nerves and happiness. They had their first gig in front of the entire school at the dance. Emilia could only hope it would go over smoothly.

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙 ♔ 𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁

AFTER SCHOOL, EMILIA stood in Julie's studio with Julie, Luke, and Reggie (she had no clue where Alex was.) While Julie watered the plants behind the piano, Emilia had her hip leaning against the side of the piano as she absentmindedly flipped the pages of her songbook through her fingers. The two of them had given Luke and Reggie the flyer to show them what Flynn had done.

(Can Emilia just say how ridiculously good Luke looked in his bleached denim jacket for a second? Because boy, did he rock it.)

"We're playing a school dance?" Reggie asked. "Sweet!"

"It's not exactly the Strip," Luke commented.

"And you're not exactly alive, so maybe you should be happy we have our first gig."

"Em and I weren't exactly in love with the idea at first either, but it could be a great way for us to build a following, right?" Julie encouraged.

Reggie nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we need to play wherever we can, whenever we can."

"No, you're right," Luke agreed. "Let's rock those kids' faces off and then play the clubs."

Emilia's eyebrows knit in confusion at that. She admired Luke's enthusiasm, but her and Julie were only sixteen . . . there was no way they could play clubs at that age.

"And then record a single that gets a billion streams?" Julie continued.

"I don't know what that is, but hopefully it gets us a manager and a tour," Luke replied.

Emilia chuckled. "Sometimes I forgot that you didn't experience the twenty-first century."

"And then we release a bunch of hit albums," Julie finally finished.

"Put out a country album that does surprisingly well," Reggie suggested. Emilia blinked at him. "I shred on the banjo, so . . ."

Julie pointed to him. "Then I'll learn how to fiddle."

Emilia raised her hand. "Dibs on the harmonica."

The three of them fist-bumped.

"What if I wanted to be the harmonica?" Luke protested.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Sorry, babe. You snooze, you lose."

His face slightly turned red from the nickname. He poked her side, making her dive away from him. Luke had a satisfied smirk on his face as he spoke up again. "And before you know it, we're being inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame."

"But one of us isn't there," Reggie voiced. "Because we had a blowout in 2032. My money's on Alex. He's just so sensitive."

"So what are we waiting for?" Luke questioned. "Let's get rehearsing."

"Uh . . ." Julie trailed off. "Where is Alex?"

"Oh, he's with his ghost friend," Luke answered.

Emilia raised an eyebrow. "Ghost friend?"

"Yeah, his name's Willie. He met him on Hollywood Boulevard."

"Aw," Emilia commented. "Wait, that's so cute."

Not as cute as you, Luke wanted to say, but he didn't, so he instead settled for, "Yeah, I guess."

It was then decided that they would start rehearsal without Alex, just to get a feel for the song. Unlike Flying Solo, Julie took a place at the piano while Emilia had her red microphone in a stand right next to it. While Luke, Reggie, and Julie played their instruments to the melody of the song, Emilia tweaked a couple of the lyrics in her songbook.

"One more time," Luke told Julie and Reggie.

They played the chords over again.

Emilia looked up from her songbook. "It sounds really good, guys."

Just then, Alex walked straight through the door into the studio.

"Oh, hey, Alex," Reggie greeted.

"Where've you been, man?" Luke inquired. "We need to start practicing."

"Yeah? For what?" Alex asked.

Flynn then appeared in the doorway, raising her arms above her head. "Dance news! I don't have a date. But, I don't care because I'm so psyched to see you guys perform."

"Oh man, we're playing a dance?" Alex questioned.

Luke sat down in a chair. "Of course, dude. That's how we get a following nowadays."

Emilia shut her songbook and reached up on her toes, tapping Alex's head with it. "Yeah, come on, Alex. Get with it."

Alex pushed her hand away. "What is up with you and hitting people on the head with your songbook?"

She shrugged with a small laugh. "Made you pay attention to me, didn't it?"

"What?" Flynn cried. "The guys are here?" She waved in front of her. "Hey guys!"

"Other way, sweetie," Julie told her.

"Oh."

She turned the other way and waved. The guys all waved back, despite Flynn not being able to see them. Emilia shook her head with a laugh and leaned her back against the piano.

"Okay, well, now that Alex has graced us with his presence, can we start working?" Luke inquired, staring up at Emilia with big green eyes.

"Yeah, for sure," Emilia agreed. "Flynn, we're gonna start rehearsing if that's cool with you. Do you wanna stay?"

"I'm supposed to blow up five hundred balloons for the school dance, but this sounds way better," Flynn replied.

Carlos, Julie's little brother, then came into the studio. "Hey Julie, remember those orbs in dad's picture?"

"Orbs?" Emilia muttered to herself in confusion. Her eyes then widened in realization and her head snapped over to Luke, who had a sheepish expression on his face. "Are you for real?"

"We didn't know he was going to take a picture of us!" Luke exclaimed.

Emilia rolled her eyes. "You're impossible."

Carlos walked straight through Alex and placed a picture down on the keyboard. "I . . . I think they're ghosts. But don't worry, this room is . . ." He spun in a circle for a moment. "Is . . . is clean. I'm not getting the ghost tinglies."

"Wrong again, little dude," Reggie voiced.

"Have no fear," Carlos continued. "If they come back, I will protect you, because I am the man of the house."

Julie stared at him while crossing her arms. "Isn't dad supposed to be the man of the house?"

"There can be two."

Emilia laughed slightly and shook her head.

"Dad needs all the help he can get, right?" Carlos then pulled a salt shaker out of his pocket. "According to the internet, salt burns their soul out."

The smiles immediately fell off of Luke, Reggie, and Alex's faces. Luke looked up at Emilia with wide eyes and a panicked expression. Emilia raised an eyebrow. It was probably just another internet lie.

Carlos held up the salt shaker. "A little sprinkle will keep them from ever coming in here."

He threw salt at Reggie and Luke, making them dodge it in their chairs. Carlos finally flung salt straight at Alex.

"No!" Alex yelled. "Oh God, I'm . . ." He looked at his hands and stood up straight. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Totally fine."

Julie looked at Flynn and cleared her throat while nodding to Carlos.

"Oh!" Flynn said. "Carlos, you know who's hungry? Me. Um, salt me a path to the kitchen."

Carlos saluted her and grabbed the picture before the both of them walked out of the studio.

Emilia looked down at Luke. "What, you afraid of salt now?"

Luke snatched the songbook out of her hands and stood up, tapping her head with it. "Be quiet, Emilia."

"Hey," she frowned, taking her songbook back. "Don't use my own tactics against me."

"Shall we try this again?" Julie interrupted.

"Yes, please," Luke agreed. "But remind us later, there's some Sunset Curve songs we wanna show you and Lia."

"Ooh," Julie stated, moving her microphone. "Show us now."

Emilia nodded eagerly.

He looked in between the two of them. "Yeah, okay."

Luke bent down by the amp and picked his journal up off the floor.

"Home Is Where My Horse Is?" Luke read in a questioning tone from the piece of paper that stuck out of his journal. "Reggie, stop putting your country songs in my journal."

"That was a gift," Reggie revealed.

He patted his shoulder with his journal. "Thanks buddy."

"You should maybe circle back—"

Luke waved Emilia over, and she joined him and Julie at the keyboard. "I dog-eared the ones that I think you and Lia would slay."

Julie patted the spot next to her on the bench. Emilia sat down and looked over her shoulder as Julie flipped through the pages. Some were ones that her and Luke wrote (that she also had in her songbook) and others were ones she had never seen before. They then stopped at one titled Unsaid Emily.

Emilia looked up at him, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "Unsaid Emily. Who's she?"

"That one's not dog-eared," Luke protested, attempting to take it back.

Julie stood up and held the journal close to her chest before looking back down at the page. "If you could only know that I never let you go."

Emilia smiled. "Those lyrics are really beautiful, Luke."

"Wow, Luke, I didn't know you were such a romantic," Julie teased.

Alex stepped up next to Luke. "He's not. That one's actually about—"

"No one," Luke cut in. "Uh, that's just something that I tried, and . . ." He reached out to try and take his journal back again, but Julie pulled it closer to her.

Julie turned to the next page that wasn't dog-eared. "What about this one? There's no way that it's not going there with the way we're looking at each other—"

Luke's face immediately burned a light shade of red. "That one's not dog-eared either."

Julie lowered the book, and Emilia looked down at the page, smiling softly at the song titled There's No Way. She gently touched the page that had recent lyrics written on it. The adoration she felt for the words ultimately overpowered the jealousy that had risen up inside of her. She of course cared about who the song was about, especially since she admitted she had a crush on Luke earlier, but it was too beautiful to not gawk over.

"You touch me and it's almost like we knew that there will be history between us two. We knew someday that we would have regrets, but we just ignored them the night we met. We just dance backwards into each other, trying to keep our feelings secretly covered. You touch me and it's almost like we knew that there will be history," Emilia read, looking up and laughing slightly at the way Luke's face was completely red at this point. "This song is amazing. Who's it about?"

You.

But he couldn't say that.

"N-No one," Luke stammered out. "But if you go to the next dog-eared page, I got a tune that's just . . . it's got a killer beat."

He walked over to the amp and began to play a riff that was extremely familiar to Emilia. She raised an eyebrow and shared a look with Julie.

Emilia got up from the bench and stood next to her microphone, crossing her arms across her chest. "You wanna sample that?"

Luke stopped playing. "What do you mean sample?"

"Uh, I mean sampling someone else's music," Emilia replied.

Julie nodded. "Me and my mom used to sing that song at the top of our lungs in the car all the time. It's a classic Trevor Wilson song."

"Nope." Luke reached forwards and took his journal back. "It's a classic our song."

"Pure Sunset Curve," Reggie added. "Never even heard of Trevor Wilson."

"Maybe you're mixing it up, you know, with another song," Alex suggested.

"I don't mix up songs," Julie argued. "Trust me. Me and his daughter used to be best friends. I used to hang out at their place all the time. I know that song." She saw the disbelieving looks on the boys' faces. "Here. I'll prove it."

Julie pulled out her laptop. She typed for a moment before turning it around, revealing a picture of Trevor Wilson.

"His first album had a bunch of hits, but none of his latest stuff is as good."

Emilia watched as all of the boys' faces visibly turned into ones of realization.

"That's Bobby," Luke announced.

"Seriously?" Julie asked. "I just told you his name is Trevor."

"Okay, great, then . . . then he changed it, all right?" Alex stammered out. "That's definitely Bobby. He was our rhythm guitarist."

Emilia scoffed. "So you're telling me that Trevor Wilson was in Sunset Curve?"

"I can't get over how old he looks," Reggie stated.

"Oh, he looks like a substitute teacher," Alex said in distaste.

"Julie . . . Lia . . ." Luke trailed off. "What were his other hits?"

"Uh," Emilia began, glancing at Julie for a moment. "One is Get Lost."

Luke's jaw clenched and he slung his guitar off of him. "Yeah, I wrote that."

"Long Weekend?" Julie continued.

"Yeah, Luke wrote that one too," Reggie answered.

Emilia blinked. "Don't tell me that Luke wrote Crooked Teeth."

"He did," Alex replied. "It was about Reggie."

"What?" Reggie cried. "I thought it was about you! I don't like that song anymore."

"Wait," Julie voiced. "This is . . . freaking me out. Trevor's songs are kind of big to me. He's the one who introduced me to rock."

"And they convinced me to start playing the guitar," Emilia admitted.

"Yeah, Luke introduced you to rock and convinced you to play the guitar," Alex responded.

Luke angrily threw a dart at the dartboard. Emilia placed her songbook down on the piano and stared at him in concern. She wanted to do something to get him to try and get him to calm down, but she didn't know what.

"So this whole time, I thought you were connected to my mom, but instead, you're connected to Carrie's dad?" Julie questioned. "Out of all people, it had to be the one girl who had it out for me."

"All right, well, add it to our list of questions," Alex told her.

"Back when Carrie and I were friends, the three of us used to talk about music all the time." Luke threw another dart, making Julie look up at him. "He never mentioned you guys."

"And that's unbelievable!" Luke exclaimed. "Okay, he can take all the credit, and he doesn't even mention us?"

Emilia cleared her throat awkwardly. "Now might not be a good time to mention he's rich."

Luke's head whipped to her. "What?"

"Um, yeah, he has his own helicopter," Emilia revealed quietly.

Luke let out a yell of frustration and threw his final dart. Instead of hitting the target, it imbedded itself into the wall.

Alex stood up. "He has . . . he has a . . . a helicopter?"

"With his face on it," Julie continued, showing them a picture of Trevor's helicopter on her computer.

"And he parks it in front of that hotel?" Reggie inquired.

"No, he gets to park it in front of his mansion."

"Mansion?"

Alex turned to Luke. "Dude, we live in a garage."

"It's not about the money, it's about the music," Luke argued.

"It's a little bit about the money, though!" Reggie countered.

"A little bit about the money," Alex agreed in a high-pitched tone.

"He could have shared it with our families. Maybe then my parents wouldn't have had their house turned into a bike shack."

"What he did is steal our legacy." Luke's eyes flickered between Julie and Emilia. "Where does he live?"

"Luke—" Emilia began, a frown on her lips.

"Where does he live, Emilia?" Luke repeated slowly.

Emilia glanced to Julie and sighed. "His mansion's above the beach in Malibu. But you can't—"

Reggie cut her off while Luke grabbed his jacket. "Let's go teach him a lesson."

"Wait, what?" Julie protested, standing up from the keyboard bench. "Guys! We have to rehearse for the dance. This is our first gig!"

Emilia saw them focus, which meant that they were about to disappear. Her eyes widened. She surged forward and grabbed Luke's wrist, and the next thing she knew, she was sucked into endless darkness.

-ˋˏ ༻ ☁︎ ༺ ˎˊ-

bobby can go fuck himself bye

the song luke wrote about emilia is "there's no way" by lauv and julia michaels <3 emiluke is so sweet I love them