─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

with her gym kit slung over her shoulder, stasie and flynn made their way over to fourth period in the gymnastics.

"and you're sure she won't be mad?" stasie asked the girls as she pushed open the door for them.

"trust me, she'll be thanking us - she said herself she never wants to show her face here again." flynn nodded.

"okay." stasie quickly agreed, while setting her bag down and making her way over the other girls in the class.

"morning girls." their teacher, miss jordan, greeted, "shall we start with some stretches?"

"okay miss."

"you okay?" flynn laughed at her friend who didn't look very well.

"i don't know how you do it," stasie shook her head as she shifted into a lunge, "so much sugar and you don't feel sick?"

"it's simply natural selection." flynn joked.

"the only thing natural will be my stomach spewing out on the floor." stasie groaned.

flynn hid her chuckle behind her palm, "oh, come on. you only had one pint - can't handle it?" she teased.

"i clearly can't." stasie shook her head.

"alright girls! are we all stretched out and ready?"

"yes, miss!" stasie nodded, not noticing she was the only one who spoke up. flynn snickered at this and she hid head head behind her hands in embarrassment.

"good to hear, anastasia. let's jump right into it," she announced before connecting some upbeat music to the speakers.

they all nodded and began mirroring her moves as she called them out, "and right. and left. step, touch. step, touch. step, tou-"

their teacher paused when she saw julie rushing into the room with an annoyed look plastered on her face.

"oh, julie, how nice of you to join us." their gym coach greeted her.

"i'm so sorry." the molina girl sighed, "i overslept."

their instructor only smiled at her, "take your spot." she pointed over to stasie and flynn.

julie stalked over to them and stood in between the two, "so, why didn't either of you wake me up? i missed my first three classes."

"good reach."

"well, flynn wouldn't let me," stasie confessed.

"just like i told stasie, you said you were never gonna show your face at school again." flynn reminded her, "and i'm a very literal person.

"breathe out."

"it's okay, it's those stupid ghosts that i'm really upset at." julie shook her head, "i'd kill them
if they weren't already dead."

"having a band is supposed to help your social life, not ruin it." flynn spoke.

"ex-band." julie corrected her.

"right. sorry." flynn excused, "ex-band."

"get down to the leg."

"it's all so messed up." julie declared, "i thought they were in this with me. but obviously, i was wrong."

"hey, don't blame yourself." flynn calmed her, you can only be so strong when three cute ghosts ask you to join a band, isn't that right stas?"

"very." stasie agreed, sending her a small glare at her taunting statement.

"and speaking of cute, have you talked to nick today?" flynn questioned julie, "he was pretty chatty at the dance."

"no, and i'm kinda dreading it." julie confessed, "at least i know i won't see him in this class." as she squatted down to dance, she saw the lacrosse boys entering the hall, through her legs, "wha... you've got to be kidding me."

"what?"

"what are they doing here?"

"you've jinxed it, jules." stasie shook her head with a sigh, "can't escape him now."

"right on time, coach barron." miss jordan made her way to the over to door to greet them.

julie and flynn began smoothening down their clothes and their hairs. as stasie grinned at their antics, flynn chose to down the stray parts of her own brunette ponytail too.

"excuse me?" stasie scoffed.

"you're welcome."

"why are the lacrosse team dancing?" stasie asked her two friends.

"so, students, coach barron and i have decided that his lacrosse team will be part of our class for a few weeks." the girls' teacher explained as if she had heard the girl mumble, "many pro athletes have used dance to help them with coordination and mobility."

"this isn't about flirting with girls." coach clarified, making his players snicker, "it's about making us better so we can actually win a game. we lost against burbank.... burbank!" the man repeated, making them look down in shame.

"well, let's all remember that composure is a big part of dance." miss jordan reminded him, "everybody pair up."

"right."

"let's go!" coach clapped his hands loudly.

"no, no!" julie shook her head.

"come on, flynn." a tanned boy with dark hair moved over to them to take the girl.

"i'm sorry."

"don't leave us, please." julie begged as they walked off.

"anastasia?" a darker-complexioned boy with black hair and lovely soft, brown eyes began walking

"stasie, don't." flynn warned her.

"would you like to work with me?" he continued.

"oh, i can't say no." stasie groaned, "i'm sorry jules, love you."

"i love you too." julie murmured as the two wandered away.

"so, you're friends with nick right?" the boy asked her, "he's mentioned you once or twice."

"i am, yeah." stasie agreed, "and he has? erm, good things, i hope?"

"great things." the boy nodded, "carter worcestershire." he put his hand out for her to shake.

stasie accepted it and shook it gently, "stasie jackson."

"so, ladies, let's do what we learned last week, and we will perform this with the boys this friday." their instructor told them, "coach barron and i will demonstrate."

"no." coach shook his head, "i don't dance. so..."

"you do now." instructor jordan pulled him behind her.

"oh."

"and jump out, and bounce, and snake," she yelled out, the girls following while the boys tried to catch up behind them. "reach up... and turn around. boys, jump out."

stasie watched as carter not-so gracefully leapt out from behind her, almost losing his stability.

"are you okay there?" she grinned.

"better than ever." he groaned while shaking his feet in embarrassment.

"let's do it again. half-time, no music." miss jordan announced.

"five, six, seven, eight." their teacher counted them in.

they began showing the short routine and stasie couldn't help but notice carter was struggling to catch on.

"i think you're going to have to be whispering the moves to me during the performance." he sighed while taking her hands.

she chortled, "i'd be happy to do that."

"breathe."

"or we could practice more outside of school?" he offered.

stasie felt her face heating up at the suggestion. plus, she was glad he couldn't see her face. she bit down her tongue to stop herself from vocalising nonsense.

"you alright?" carter asked while spinning her around, "sorry, if that was weird."

"no, i'd be happy to do that too," she explained.

"great."

"really good. once more. with music." miss jordan clicked her remote, turning on r&b music.

the duo got into their positions and did the routine again, missing a couple of steps and carter had managed to step on the girl's shoe.

"oh gosh-"

"it's fine, don't worry." stasie quickly spoke, "on the bright side, we've nearly got the dance right."

"go us."

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"he's really sweet." stasie told her friend, "and offered for us to practice outside of school."

"sounds like flirting to me." julie nudged her as they made their way to the back garden.

"flirting? come on julie." stasie shook her head, "he's just being friendly."

"stas, you've got to stop this." julie sighed as she walked down the concrete steps.

"stop what?"

"stop thinking people aren't interested in you in a romantic way."

"i don't do that." stasie frowned, "plus i've just met him, so there's no way he could like me already-"

"♪ we're sorry ♪" reggie sang out.

alex moved out from behind luke, "♪ so sorry ♪"

"♪ we're super-duper, crazy, stupid ♪" luke started.

"♪ sorry ♪" they all sang together while giving the girl's jazz hands.

"in case you missed it, we're really sorry." reggie clarified.

stasie and julie gaped at each other before julie spoke: "yeah. we-we got that part."

"crystal clear." stasie nodded.

"we've been here for, like, three hours." alex told them.

"yup." reggie agreed while high-fiving him.

"right." stasie hummed.

luke stood up from his knees, "we almost sang to your little brother.

"he comes in here a lot." reggie spoke, "mainly to use the bathroom."

"yeah. it's not our favourite part of the day." alex finished for him.

"but, girls, it wasn't okay that we flaked on the dance last night." luke resumed, "we know we let you guys down."

"yeah, and none of us wanted to disappoint either of you." alex told them, "you're the best thing that's happened to us since we became ghosts."

"so, in hopes that you'll rejoin the band and be our manager again," luke moved forward to them and handed julie a paper, "we booked a new gig."

julie looked down at it, moving the sheet to the side so stasie could look over at it too.

"a mega important, life-changing gig." reggie emphasised.

"oh, okay. check it out. tons of managers go here to listen to new bands." luke pointed at the poster, "all we gotta do is blow them all away, and we're living the dream."

"so this means a lot to you, huh?" julie finally said, "kind of how playing in front of my whole entire school meant a lot to me."

"sounds like sarcasm." reggie stated before gasping and whispering to his blond friend, "i'm starting to think our plan isn't working."

"look, we know we messed up." alex informed them.

"but we need you in the band."

"of course, you do." julie started.

"without jules - you're not really a band, right?" stasie quizzed.

"right..."

"because without me and possibly stas, no one can see you guys playing." julie reminded them, "you know, i thought that the music that we were writing was special, but you're too obsessed with your past to even care."

"i do care." luke argued, "our band has a real chance at greatness. i'm not gonna let that get away from us again."

"uh-huh." julie hummed, "right. so then why did you bail on me to get back at trevor?"

he was silent so she continued.

"i'll tell you why. cause there's only one thing you care about, and that's yourself."

"julie..." stasie frowned, it was clear she had struck a nerve.

the molina girl only turned on her feet and trudged back up to the house. luke took a few steps forward and watched her go.

"dude, she didn't mean it." alex attempted to tell him, but luke had already decided to leave.

stasie watched as the boy beside her dissolved.

"where's he going?"

"where do you think?" alex sighed, "remember what today is?"

"what is today?" stasie inquiered.

"well, you see..."

⎯ ❃ neens speaks!

you can imagine carter as anyone you want that fits his description, but i might add him to the cast list if i decide to write him in more

gif is just stasie looking pretty in her gym clothes xo