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chapter five: payback
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"what's that about?"
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flynn walked up to julie, seeing that she was dancing at her locker. she smiled as she continued to walk up to her, laughing. julie looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"hey, what's up?" she asked.

"nothing. it's just nice seeing you back to your weirdo self." flynn answered, making julie smile.

"thanks?" julie questioned, chuckling.

"so how's the band?" flynn asked. "still hot? still talented? still dead?"

"amazing." julie answered. "fin and i spent the whole weekend writing songs. luke helped every now and then. come on, you wanna hear some of them?"

"duh!" flynn answered.

julie grabbed something before she closed her locker. the two walked to the music room, it being empty.

"like it was flowing through me like when i used to write with my mom." julie told flynn before she sat down at the piano. "so, this is the first song fin and i wrote. here's a bit of the chorus."

cause we're standing on the edge of great
great
great

"wow, i like it." flynn said, a smile on her face. "definite gaga vibes."

"thanks! i think we have an anthem with this one. it's something my mom and i were working on." julie said, flynn giving her a sad smile. "fin and i finished it. check it out."

and it's one, two, three, four times
that i've try for one more night
light a fire in my eyes
i'm going out of mind

"that's. . . thats beautiful." flynn told her. "and my girl's got a crush, and her name is fin."

"what? no. fin's a ghost." julie quickly said.

"so you don't thing that fin's cute?" flynn asked her best friend.

"cute?" julie questioned, smiling at the thought of fin. "flynn, fin is beautiful. and she has a perfect smile."

"ha! i knew it!" flynn said. "just remember she's made of air."

"beautiful air." julie added, a sly smirk on her face.

"just don't get hurt, okay?" flynn said. "obviously you guys have a connection. everybody's wondering when you're gonna play again."

"play again? we don't even have anything planned." julie said. "fin and i have just been focused on writing songs."

"lucky for you, your marketing team has been way ahead of you." flynn told her.

"i don't have a marketing team." julie said.

flynn pulled a flier from her bag, showing it to julie with a smile. "now you do! and surprise. you're playing the school dance tonight, and i'm djing too. i posted it all over social media. you have an excellent marketing team."

"no. no. this is in front of the whole school." julie told flynn.

flynn's phone buzzed, letting her know that she got another like on instagram. "sorry, you already have 68 likes." and with that she walked out.

julie follows her out, quickly grabbing her belongings.

~~~

fin warped back into the studio, seeing that julie was watering the plants and that reggie and luke was looking at a flier.

"hey." she said, going to stand next to luke, who was leaning on the piano.

"hey." julie greeted, smiling. "where you been?"

"oh, uh, just went for a walk." fin lied, shrugging.

luke looked at her, knowing that she had went to go see her brother. after she had went to go see them the first time, she went back to see them again. her brother happened to be there, which was a relief for her. she had followed him home, and ever since she's been sneaking off when she thought no one was looking.

but luke had noticed, and he had followed her just to see that fin was doing the same thing he was doing, going to see family. luke had told her, the both of them going to each other when they need a shoulder to cry on.

"uh, what's this?" fin asked, taking the flier from reggie's hands. "whoa, we're playing a school dance?"

"yeah." julie said, putting the watering pot down and walking over to fin. "you okay with that?"

"hell yeah! it's our first gig since we died." fin answered, putting the flier down on the piano.

"i don't know, fin." luke said, making the girls look at him. "it's not exactly the strip."

"and you're not exactly alive, so you should be happy we have our first gig." reggie said, making fin smile.

"i wasn't in love with the idea at first either, but it could be a great way for us to build a following, right?" julie told them.

"yeah, we need to play wherever we came, whenever we can." fin said, nodding her head.

"no, you're right. let's rock those kids' faces off and then play the clubs." luke said, making fin smile.

"and then record a single that gets a billion streams?" julie added.

"what are streams?" fin asked, looking at julie. "never mind. i just hope that it gets us a manager and a tour."

"and then we release a bunch of hit albums." julie said.

"put out a country album that does surprising well." reggie added, making julie look at him either furrowed eyebrows. "i shred on the banjo, so. . ."

"then i'll learn how to fiddle." julie said, smiling.

"and before you know it, we're being inducted into the rock n roll hall of fame." luke added.

"but one of us isn't there." reggie said, making everyone look at him weirdly. "because we had a blowout in 2032."

"that's a very specific number." fin mumbled.

"my money's on alex. he's just so sensitive." reggie finished, making fin nod slightly.

"so what are we waiting for? let's get rehearsing." luke told everyone.

"uh, where is alex?" julie asked.

"yeah, i was wondering the same thing." fin said, pushing her fingers through her short strands of hair.

"that is a really good question. . . that neither of us have the answer to." luke answered, reggie shrugging.

"well, we can start rehearsing now just to see how we want the melody and stuff to go. and when he comes we can fill him in." fin suggested, looking at everyone with questioning eyebrows.

"yeah, okay." reggie said, shrugging again.

the three ghosts and julie walked over to where their instruments were. julie sat at her pianos, fin, luke, and reggie putting the straps around their shoulders.

"which song are we doing for the dance?" luke asked.

"uh. . . finally free?" fin suggested.

everyone nodded, making fin nod.

"one, two, three." fin mumbled, starting to strum her guitar.

luke and reggie joined in, smiling at each other. then it was julie's turn to join, the group smiling as they continued to play.

it went on like that for a few minutes, just making sure that they had all of the chords right.

"one more time." luke told everyone.

they did it again before stopping, alex walking through the closed doors just as they did so.

"oh. hey, alex." reggie greeted.

"where have you been, man?" luke asked. "we need to start practicing."

"yeah? for what?" alex asked.

before anyone could answer, the doors opened to reveal flynn smiling, making fin's eyebrows raise.

"dance news!" flynn said, walking in. "i don't have a date. but i don't care because so psyched to see you guys perform."

"oh, man! we're playing a dance?" alex asked, a little disappointed.

"of course, dude. that's how we get a following nowadays." luke answered.

fin nodded, taking the guitar from around her shoulder and putting it on its stand.

"yeah, get with the program, alex." julie added, a slight chuckle escaping her lips.

"what? fin and the guys are here?" flynn questioned before she waved in the opposite direction that they were in. "hey, guys."

"other way, sweetie." julie told her, making fin smile.

"oh." flynn mumbled, turning and waving.

"hey, flynn." fin greeted, walking over to alex.

"fin said hey." julie told flynn, making her smile.

"well, now that alex has graced us with his presence, can we start working?" luke asked.

"i just put my guitar down." fin said, frowning.

"and who told you to do that?" julie questioned, a smile on her face.

fin looked over to the molina girl, a sly smirk on her lips as she sent a playful glare over to her.

julie giggled before turning back to flynn, "we're gonna rehearse. you wanna stick around?"

"i'm supposed to blow up 500 balloons for the school dance, but this sounds way better." flynn answered, making fin chuckle.

"hey, julie." julie's little brother, that fin learned is carlos, greeted as he entered the studio. "remember the orbs in dad's pictures?" he questioned as he walked through fin, making her frown slightly. "i - i think they're ghosts."

fin looked over to the boys with raised eyebrows, alex just shrugging.

"but don't worry. this room is. . . is. . . this room is clean." carlos told his jared as he looked around. "i'm not getting the ghost tinglies."

"wrong again, little dude." reggie said, making fin smile.

"have no fear. if they come back, i will protect you, because i am the man of the house." carlos said.

"isn't dad supposed to be the man of the house?" julie questioned, crossing her arms.

"there can be two." carlos mumbled, making julie and flynn chuckle. "and dad needs all the help he can get, right?" he then pulled out a container of salt, fin raising her eyebrows. "according to the internet, salt burns their souls out."

this made the smiles on alex, fin, reggie, and luke's faces to drop, all of them looking at julie with worried looks.

"a littler sprinkle will keep them from ever coming in here." carlos finished.

he then began to sprinkle the salt, directing it towards reggie and luke, making them back up. he then swing his arm toward alex and fin, the salt going through them.

"no!" alex yelled.

fin tried to step back, but ended up tripping on the amp wire that was by her foot. being the dramatic little ghost she was, she screamed along with alex.

"oh, god!" she exclaimed, her eyes closed. "i'm. . ." she then realized that she was still here, julie looking at her with worried eyebrows. "i'm good."

"so am i." alex said, smiling.

fin then shot up, alex putting his arm on his shoulder so he could lean on her. julie looked over to flynn, clearing her throat and gesturing towards carlos.

flynn caught this, making her turn towards the young molina. "oh! carlos, you know who's hungry? me. um, salt me a path to the kitchen."

carlos nodded before he walked out of the studio, flynn following after him.

"shall we try this again?" julie asked the four ghosts.

"yes, please." luke answered. "but remind us later. there's some sunset curve songs that fin and i wanna show you."

"ooh, show me now." julie told them.

"yeah, okay." luke said, going to grab his song book.

fin walked over to the couch, grabbing her's before she walked over to julie, sitting down beside her at the piano. she handed julie the book, the both of them smiling at each other.

"home is where my horse is?" luke read from his book, seeing that there was a piece of paper sticking out. "reggie, stop putting your country songs in my journal."

"that was a gift." reggie told him.

"thanks, buddy." luke said, fin chuckling.

"you should maybe circle back to -" reggie started.

"i dog eared the ones that i think you would slay." luke interrupted, handing julie his book.

julie opened luke's book, making fin frown slightly since she gave her her own book first. she watched julie flip through the pages before she stopped, reading the title of the song.

"who's emily?" julie asked, making fin, alex, and reggie give each other a knowing look.

"that one's not dog eared." luke said, going to grab his book.

julie took the book of his reach, standing up before she looked back down at the song. "if you can only know i'd never let you go. wow, luke. i didn't know you were such a romantic."

fin looked at luke with sad eyes as alex walked over to the trio.

"he's not. that ones about -" the blonde started.

"no one." luke interrupted. "uh, that's just something that i tried, and. . ."

he tried to grab his book again, but julie pulled back, making him sigh.

he started panicking, remembered one of the sad songs that fin had written. "if you wanna look at sad songs though, you should ask fin to sing worst of you."

"dude, don't throw me under the bus with you." fin said, still sitting down.

"sorry." he mumbled, earning a glare from alex.

"worst of you? what's that about?" julie questioned, sitting back down on the bench. it sounded familiar.

"that is not important right now" fin said, flipping through the pages before she stopped. "but we should try this one."

julie rolled her eyes, grabbing fin's. luke looked at the song, smiling at fin before he starting to play the song on his guitar.

"so you wanna sample." julie said, sitting back down. luke stopped playing.

"what do you mean sample?" luke questioned.

"sample someone else's music." julie said. "me and my mom used to sing that song at the top of our lungs all the time. it's a classic trevor wilson song."

"nope. it's a classic our song." fin said, pointing at the lyrics in her book.

"pure sunset curve. never even heard of trevor wilson." reggie said, making fin nod.

"maybe you're mixing it up, you know, with another song." alex suggested.

"i don't mix up songs. trust me." julie told him. "me and his daughter used to be best friends. i used to hang out at their place all the time. i know that song."

fin and the guys looked at each other, not exactly believing julie.

"here. i'll prove it." julie said, grabbing her laptop. she typed on it for a second before turning it around towards the guys, fin walking around to alex to see. "his first album had a bunch of hits, but none of his latest stuff is as good."

fin's eyes widened as she got closer to the laptop to make sure that she was seeing things right. the guys did the same thing.

"that's bobby." luke said.

"seriously, i just told you his name is trevor." julie told him.

"okay, great. then - then he change it." fin said. "that's definitely bobby. he was one of rhythm guitarists."

"trevor wilson was in your band?" julie asked.

"i can't get over how old he looks." reggie said, fin backing away from the computer.

"oh. . . he looks like a substitute teacher." alex said, still staring at the picture.

"julie. . ." fin said, turning towards said girl.

julie looked at her with worried eyebrows, this being the first time that fin had called her by her actual name since they met.

"what were his other hits?" fin asked her.

"get lost." julie answered.

"yeah, i wrote that." fin mumbled, her blood starting to boil.

"long weekend?" julie asked.

"yeah, luke wrote that one." reggie said.

"crooked teeth?"

"and that. it was about reggie." alex told her.

"what? i thought it was about you." reggie said. "i don't like that song anymore."

"fin. . ." julie called, the pieces coming together as to why fin's song sounded familiar. fin turn towards her again with raised eyebrows. "how does worst of you sound?"

fin sighed, grabbing her acoustic guitar before sitting down again. she started to play, closing her eyes as she did so, just going to sing the pre - chorus and the chorus.

you got me right in the palm of your hands and you know it
oh, it's what you do
so let me drown, i'll be there with the band
hit the sea bed, all i'd see is you

julie looked at the boys with furrowed eyebrows, all of them watching fin with sad eyes.

so give me your worst excuses, any reason to stay
give me your lips that taste of him, i'd kiss them again
i'd rather you walk all over me than walk away
give me the worst of you
cause i want you anyway

julie looked back at fin with sad eyes, seeing how sad the carter girl looked while she sung.

so take me to every party and just talk to your friends
why don't you let me down, i'll let you do it again
go on and walk all over me, just don't walk away
give me the worst of you
cause i want you anyways

fin stopped playing the guitar, looking around to see a bunch of sad looks on their faces. she looked over to julie, hoping that bobby or trevor didn't take that song either.

"yeah, uh, he took that one too." julie told her. "but he changed the name."

fin frowned, standing up and putting the guitar back. she then began to pace around the studio, glaring at the floor as she did so.

"what's it about?" julie asked.

"her ex girlfriend." alex answered, watching the short girl pace around.

julie furrowed her eyebrows as she turned back to fin.

"we was in a secret relationship because it was the 90s and everyone is homophobic. but when we were in public she acted like i didn't exist, or - or she would go off with guys. but i still stayed because i knew she was scared." fin explained, still pacing back and forth.

"then she outed fin to the whole school." alex added, making fin stop pacing.

"this is. . . freaking me out. trevor's songs are kind of big to me." julie told everyone, fin looking at her. "he's the one who introduced me to rock."

"yeah. luke and fin introduced you to rock." alex told her.

fin looked over at luke, seeing that he was throwing darts at the dartboard.

"so this whole time, i thought you were connected to my mom. but instead, you're connected to carrie's dad?" julie asked.

"bobby is carrie's dad?" fin questioned, making julie nod.

julie had told fin about what had happened between her and carrie. fin had poofed into her room multiple nights, the two of them just talking.

"out of all people, it had to be the one girl who had it out for me." julie finished.

"all right, add it to our lists of questions." alex said.

"back when carrie and i were friends, the three of us used to talk about music all the time." julie told the band, luke throwing another dart. "he never mention you guys."

"and that's unbelievable." luke said, throwing another dart before turning to everyone. "okay, he can take all the credit, and he doesn't even mention us?"

"and he's rich. he has his own helicopter." julie said.

"he has - he has a - a helicopter?" alex asked, pushing his hair out of his face.

"with his face on it." julie said, changing the picture on her laptop to a building.

"and he parks it in front of that hotel?" reggie asked.

"no. he gets to park it in front of his mansion." julie answered.

"mansion?" reggie repeated.

"dude, we live in a garage." alex said to luke.

"it's not about the money. it's about the music." luke told the two boys.

"it can be about both." fin told him.

"he could've shared it with our families. maybe then my parents wouldn't have had their house turned into a bike shack." reggie said.

"he could've gave some to my brother." fin added, alex putting his arm around her shoulders.

"what he did is steal our legacy." luke told his friends. "where does he live?"

"above the beach in malibu." julie answered.

"let's go teach him a lesson." alex said, luke grabbing his jacket.

"wait. what?" julie asked, shooting up. "guys, we have to rehearse for the dance. this is our first gig!"

the boys warped out, leaving fin and julie there. they stared at each other, julie looking at her with pleading eyes.

fin sighed before she poofed out, appearing next to alex in bobby's house. they all explored the house, fin's mouth opened slightly as she saw how big the house was.

"bobby's house is ridiculous!" alex said, making everyone look over at him. "have you seen these platinum records?"

"platinum?" reggie repeated.

"he recorded my name is luke." luke told his friends. "my name is luke!"

the front door opened, revealing just the person they was looking for.

"it's him!" reggie told alex and luke, making them run over towards them.

"hey, carrie. i'm gonna meditate." bobby yelled out to his daughter.

"i'm in the den!" she yelled back.

"he wears sunglasses in doors." reggie pointed out.

"he looks like a dipshit." fin mumbled.

"cool!" bobby said before he started to go up the stairs.

"i can't stand him." reggie said.

"times for his past to haunt him." luke mumbled before he went up the stairs, reggie and fin following him.

"wait!" alex called, making the trio stop. "let's not rush this. you know, it's my - it's my first time haunting someone. i wanna make it special."

"okay, alex." luke said before going up the stairs, reggie following him.

fin waited for alex, the two of them making eye contact.

"that was weird." alex said to her.

"yeah, it was." she said before climbing the stairs. "now let's go."

alex did as told. they followed bobby into his room, watching as he lit some candles. he then sat down on a couch, bring his feet up and crossing them.

he closed his eyes, resting his arms on his knees. "ohm."

fin licked her finger, twisting it in her mouth before she stuck it in his ear. this made the older man stop what he was doing, making a sound of disgust as he wiped his ear.

fin laughed as she watched bobby look around before going back to meditating. but before he could do so, alex, reggie, and luke blew out the candles he had lit. fin then walked over to his stereo and turned it on, making rock music play from the speakers.

bobby furrowed his eyebrows before he stood up and turned the stereo off. fin watched as he walked away, turning the stereo back on. he came back and unplugged the stereo, getting frustrated.

they both heard the shower turn on, fin smiling. she poofed into the bathroom, seeing alex come out of the shower. the group moved out of the way, watching bobby enter the bathroom and walk into the shower, turning it off.

luke then started to write on the foggy mirror, making it squeak as he rubbed his fingers on it. this grabbed the attention of bobby, making him come out.

luke had written "hello bobby" in his terrible handwriting, bobby seeing this. the four ghosts left the bathroom, closing the door.

alex stood in front of the door, pushing onto it once he felt bobby trying to leave. bobby continued to push on the door, but alex wouldn't budge, making the other three ghost stand there and watch as they all laughed.

"let me out!" bobby yelled, alex moving away from the door.

this made bobby stumble out of the bathroom. he looked around quickly before he left his room, leaving the band to celebrate.

the band poofed outside, seeing bobby's helicopter taking off. they watched as he started to get farther and farther.

"ooh, quick. let's moon him before he gets too far away." reggie suggested.

"he can't see us." fin told him, watching as the boys turned around.

"oh, it's not got him, fin. it's for us." luke told her.

fin rolled her eyes, watching as the three boys pulled their pants down, showing their butts. she released a chuckle as they started to do a little dance.

"so did you guys have fun in there?" julie asked, making fin turn towards her.

the boys stood up, pulling their pants back up with smiles on their faces.

"okay, you'd do the exact same if he stole all of your songs." fin said, the boys nodding in agreement.

"but you have new songs. with me." julie told her. "the best way to get back at trevor is for this band to do great. and to do great, we have to play at dances, then clubs."

"and tours." fin added.

"we know." luke said.

"i'll see you at the school. we go on at nine." julie told them. "please don't be late. there's gonna be a lot of people there."

"we got it, alright? don't worry." alex said.

julie looked at fin, giving her the same pleading eyes from earlier. fin looked back at her, feeling her heart skip a beat, tuning out what the boys were saying.

"i promise that we will be there, buttercup." fin said, smiling slightly. "i always keep my promises."

julie smiled, nodding her head before she went back into the house.

"let's go." alex told fin.

"where are we going?" she questioned.

"to meet his friend willie. learn more tricks." luke answered.

fin nods before the band warped into a park, seeing two skaters getting written up by two cops. fin noticed a tan boy with long hair flowing out his helmet riding over towards them.

"what's up, man?" he greeted, hopping off his board. "you brought friends."

"yeah, these are my bandmates, luke, reggie, and fin." alex introduced.

fin waved at the long haired boy, a small smile on her face once she noticed the way alex looked at him.

"so. . . you guys here to learn some tricks?" willie asked the band. he then waved his fingers over at the cops four wheelers, making their sirens go off.

this made the cops jump up, inspecting what had made their vehicles do that. the skaters rode off, willie having a smile on his face.

"do it again! do it again!" reggie exclaimed.

"actually, we were thinking a little bigger. an old bandmate stole from us. we wanna confront him face to face." luke told willie.

"all right. is this, uh, old friend of yours a lifer?" willie asked.

"oh, that's fancy ghost lingo for the living." alex told his friends. "little something i picked up."

"oh." reggie said, a smile on his face. "then yeah. he's a lifer. too much of a fancy pants for street dogs."

"yeah, i'm sorry. speaking from lifers is even out of my league." willie told the four ghosts, making their faces drop. "you know, but there is one ghost who might be able to help you guys. he's - he's kind of a big deal."

"literally, anything would help." luke told him.

"oh, all right. well, um, i gotta go take care of some things but i'll meet you where alex and i met, 8:00." willie said, the four of them nodding. "see ya."

and with that, he hopped on his board and rode off.

"he's a cute ghost." fin teased, making alex blush.

"shut up, buttercup." alex shot back, making fin blush back.

the band poofed off.

~~~

i hate the way i ended it but it was getting to long so the last few minutes of this episode will be in the next chapter. i hope u guys enjoyed it.