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𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧

ＣＨＡＰＴＥＲ  ＳＩＸ:
flying solo

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FLYNN PROVED TO be incredibly stubborn. Emilia and Julie couldn't find her, like, anywhere, no matter how many places they drove to. Finally, the two girls decided to give up when they literally ran out of places to go. But what Emilia did not expect was to find Flynn standing on Julie's front porch.

"Flynn!" Julie exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Em and I have been looking all over for you!"

"Not everywhere, 'cause here I am," Flynn countered.

"We've been texting you all day," Emilia voiced, walking up the path to get closer to Flynn. "Guaranteed you're mad at us, but you could've at least texted us back."

"I sent a poop emoji in the group chat. I think it said everything. I was just leaving this." Flynn then pulled a Triple Threat t-shirt out of her backpack, and Emilia felt her heart sink. "I won't need it anymore."

"I'm not taking it," Julie refused. "Neither is Emilia."

"Fine, then my dad can wash his car with it, though all this betrayal on it might scratch his paint."

"Look, Em and I are very sorry for not telling you, but I — I need you to know how important you are to me. There's no way I would've made it through this year if it wasn't for you and Emilia."

Emilia nodded. "Me too. You and Julie have been there with me through all of my rough patches, especially when I was thirteen. I wouldn't be who I am today without you two."

"Yet it was three strangers that got Julie back into music," Flynn argued. "I don't need people in my life who lie and keep things from me. Goodbye, Julie. Goodbye, Emilia."

Emilia turned to Julie as Flynn began to walk away. She sent a subtle nod to her. They had to prove the truth about these boys without Flynn thinking they had actually gone insane . . . which might be a bit of a process.

Julie grabbed Flynn's shoulder and pushed her back. "They're ghosts."

"What?" Flynn asked in bewilderment.

"The boys in our band, they aren't holograms. They're ghosts. And when we play together, people can see them."

"And for some reason I'm able to touch them," Emilia added. "Which is still something I haven't figured out. It's really strange. I should probably get on that."

"What do you mean ghosts?" Flynn questioned. "Like the kind that rattle chains and go boo?"

"No," Julie answered. "And I'm pretty sure that's just a hurtful ghost stereotype. These guys are just normal dead dudes. Well . . . Reggie's a little questionable."

Flynn then pulled out her phone and started typing.

"Who are you texting?"

"Your dad," Flynn replied. "He told me to text him if I was worried about you. And, um . . . I'm worried. I'm also texting Apollo, because I think he deserves to know that his sister is officially out of her mind. You both are seeing things."

Emilia rolled her eyes and ripped the phone out of Flynn's hands. "Stop acting difficult. Meet us in Julie's mom's studio in thirty minutes. We'll prove to you that we're not insane. And please, don't text Julie's dad or Apollo. Either one of them will probably call my parents and it'll turn into an even bigger mess."

She handed the phone back to Flynn.

Flynn finally caved in. "You have thirty minutes."

Julie sighed and then looked down at Flynn's backpack. "Eggs? Why did you bring eggs?"

"Oh, um, no." Flynn chuckled awkwardly. "No. See, I grabbed those by mistake. It's not like I was gonna throw them at your bedroom window and then do the same at Em's house or anything."

Julie let out a breath and shook her head. Emilia followed her up the steps of her house.

"Thirty minutes!" Flynn called after them. "Go!"

Emilia nudged Julie's side with her elbow. "Hey, you got an extra Triple Threat t-shirt by any chance?"

"Yeah, why?" A look of realization then crossed Julie's face. "Woah, Em, you're a genius."

She laughed slightly. "I try my best. Now, let's go prove to Flynn that these boys are actually ghosts."

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

THIRTY MINUTES DIDN'T seem like a long enough time to completely rehearse a song. However, with five brains all completely focused on getting this song right, they managed to make it happen. They were able to figure out harmonies, notes, and solos within the blink of an eye. Emilia truly believed that she had never worked better with a group of people than she did with Julie, Luke, Alex, and Reggie. Finally, they had about a minute left of their thirty minute time period, and Emilia stood by the door to wait for Flynn, her hands tucked into her pockets.

Luke placed a hand on her shoulder. "You all right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I just don't wanna mess it up."

"You won't," he promised. "I know you won't. You have to stop doubting yourself, Emilia."

Emilia shrugged. "Kind of can't help it at times."

He shook his head. "Lia, you should see yourself preform. It's incredible. Whenever I looked at you up on that stage . . . you've got stars in your eyes."

"So let's paint the sky," Emilia recited.

Luke blinked. "What?"

"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "It's a lyric from a song I heard."

A knock was then heard at the door.

"Hey, you got this. I'll see you in a few." Luke squeezed her shoulder with a smile. "Let's paint the sky."

With that, him, Reggie, and Alex disappeared from the studio. Emilia grasped the handle of one door and opened it while Julie did the same to the other one. It revealed Flynn standing there, her arms crossed with a look of disbelief still painted across her face.

"Thanks for coming," Julie told her. "We just wanted to rehearse the song so it was perfect, which it's not, but whatever."

"No, if I'm gonna hear a song from yours and Em's imaginary ghost band, I want it to be perfect." Flynn waved her hand towards the studio. "So, get back in there." She then pointed in the direction of nothing. "All of you. You too."

Emilia shook her head. "They're not out here right now."

The two stepped aside so Flynn could enter, and Flynn placed a hand on Emilia's shoulder momentarily. "Oh, I know."

Flynn walked farther into the studio. Emilia and Julie exchanged wide smiles before closing the doors completely. They both spun back around.

"All right guys, you ready?" Julie inquired.

Emilia immediately noticed that where Flynn was standing was not a very good place to be. "Hey, can you actually go sit in that chair? Reggie needs his rocking out space and will definitely feel a little weird walking through you."

Flynn chuckled. "Boy, when you create a world, you really live in it."

Julie walked behind her and forced her to sit in the chair. "Just sit. If you'll notice, there's no equipment that will produce a hologram. Feel free to look around."

Emilia sat down at the keyboard and adjusted her red microphone that was decorated with gold star stickers so it was at a comfortable angle. Julie's white microphone that was inked with drawings was in a stand next to it. Emilia clasped her hands in front of her as she waited for Julie.

"The guys took a poem that I wrote about you and Emilia and put it to music," Julie explained.

"Aw, I wish I didn't have to talk to your dad and Apollo after this," Flynn stated.

Emilia rolled her eyes playfully. "This is called Flying Solo. I hope it touches your heart as much as it did to mine."

Julie reached over Emilia's shoulder and played a beat on the touchpad that rested above the keyboard. She pressed the loop button and walked back over to her microphone. Emilia placed her fingers on the keyboard keys and played her first chord as Julie began the song.

"If I leave you on bad note, leave you on a sad note, guess that means I'm buying lunch that day," Julie sang. "I know all your secrets, you know all my deep dish, guess that means some things, they never, they never change, we both know what I, what I, what I mean, when I look at you it's like I'm looking at me."

Luke, Reggie, and Alex then appeared with their instruments, and Emilia tried not to laugh at Flynn's shocked scream as she joined in with Julie in the chorus while the guys sang some background vocals. "My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo."

Emilia suddenly felt a presence next to her. She turned her head to see Luke there, leaning down next to her microphone as he continued to strum on his guitar. Emilia smiled as she sang, her heart racing and her stomach doing flips. Luke returned the gesture and gave her a subtle wink. Her cheeks involuntarily flushed as red as her microphone.

"My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you."

"Hey!" the boys shouted, Luke leaving Emilia's side to stand at a microphone with Reggie.

"Yeah, yeah," Julie and Emilia harmonized.

"Hey!"

"Yeah, yeah. My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you."

Emilia took her microphone out of the stand and stood up, moving to Julie's side where Flynn was sitting. "Yeah, you know who I'm liking way before I like them." She shrugged for dramatic effect. "Duh, 'cause you like them first. And if somebody hurts you, I'm gonna get hurt too, that's just how we work, yeah that's just how we work. It will never change." Emilia and the boys harmonized on the change. "We both know what I, what I mean, when I'm look at you, it's like I'm looking at me."

Julie joined back in with Emilia for the chorus, pulling Flynn up from her chair. "My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo." Julie had to tug Flynn so they could stand by Luke, but his eyes were only focused on Emilia as she put her heart and soul into the song. "My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you."

"Hey!"

Luke lunged out to them, sending Flynn stumbling backwards away from him. Flynn sent a scared look to Julie and Emilia. Julie merely dragged her over to Alex by her hand. Emilia shook her head at Luke with a small smile as she followed after them.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Hey!"

"Yeah, yeah. My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you."

They then took Flynn over to Reggie. Flynn stuck her hand through his shoulder, but as per usual, it just went right through. She quickly retracted her hand.

"Weird, right?" Reggie asked.

Flynn sent a confused look to Emilia. Emilia shook her head and reached out, poking Reggie's shoulder completely. Flynn stared at her with wide eyes.

"Definitely weird," Emilia admitted with a slight laugh.

"They're ghosts!" Flynn exclaimed. "And Emilia can touch them!"

"Oh, we prefer, uh, musician spirits," Alex corrected. "And we have no idea why Emilia can touch us."

"Julie, Emilia . . ." Luke trailed off as he began to play the build up to the chorus on his blue electric guitar. "So does this mean you're both joining our band?"

"Um," Flynn interrupted, flicking a braid over her shoulder. "Actually, I think you're joining their band."

Julie put her elbow on Flynn's shoulder. "I'm gonna go with what she said."

Emilia nodded at Luke. "Yeah, Flynn's definitely right on this one."

Luke shook his head with the cutest smile adorning his features. Emilia glanced at him for a moment longer before the chorus finally came back in.

"My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo," Emilia and Julie sang while dancing with Flynn. "My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without you."

"Hey!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Julie took a high note. "Hey!"

"Hey!"

"Yeah, yeah. My life, my life would be real low, zero, flying solo without . . ."

While Emilia went an octave higher, Julie stayed lower so they could harmonize. "You." Emilia heard Reggie chuckle beside her, and the three best friends leaned their foreheads against one another's. "You."

"Still wanna talk to my dad?" Julie questioned once they were finished.

"Or Apollo?" Emilia added.

"No, I'm good," Flynn responded.

The three erupted in quiet giggles. And ending on a happy note, the longest day ever was finally sealed with a tight hug shared between Emilia, Julie, and Flynn. Triple Threat was back together again.

-ˋˏ ༻  ☁︎  ༺ ˎˊ-

CELEBRATORY CHAPTER BC JOE BIDEN WON THE ELECTION !!!!! WE DID IT EVERYONE