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𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗠𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧

ＣＨＡＰＴＥＲ ＴＥＮ:
from emily to emilia

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REMEMBER WHAT EMILIA said about being the happiest she'd been in a while? Well, scratch that. All the happiness and butterflies slowly faded into sadness and rage about what had happened the previous night. She had gone to school, avoiding all eye contact with anyone and everyone. Emilia had even ignored Apollo. She couldn't bear to show her face in front of the people she disappointed.

Therefore, she hid out at Julie's place after school. Flynn had decided to not wake Julie up that morning after the dance and she missed her first three classes, but some exciting news is that her and Apollo were dance partners (apparently the lacrosse team had joined their dance class.) Now all Emilia had to do was sit back and watch them get together.

"Hey, Julie?" Emilia asked when they were on the girl's couch, doing homework.

"Yeah, Em?"

"I accidentally left my songbook in your mom's studio yesterday," Emilia admitted.

Julie looked up to see her sheepish expression, and she sighed with her shoulders slumping. "Fine, I'll come with you because I'm a good best friend and won't let you see the guys alone right now."

Emilia let out a breath of relief. "Thank you."

The two of them got up and exited the house. They walked down the path to the studio and when they got there, the boys were already waiting for them. Emilia bit back a sigh and placed her hands on her hips.

"We're sorry," Reggie sang.

"So sorry," Alex added.

Luke knelt down on the ground. "We're super-duper, crazy, stupid."

"Sorry," they all finished with jazz hands.

"In case you missed it, we're really sorry," Reggie voiced.

"Yeah, I . . . I got that part," Julie replied.

"We've been here for, like, three hours," Alex announced.

"Yup," Reggie agreed, high-fiving Alex.

Luke stood back up. "We almost sang to your little brother."

"He comes in here a lot," Reggie commented. "Mainly to use the bathroom."

"Yeah, it's not our favorite part of the day," Alex stated.

"But Julie and Lia, it wasn't okay when we flaked on the dance last night," Luke told them. "We know we let you both down."

"Yeah, and none of us wanted to disappoint either of you," Alex continued. "You're both the best things that's happened to us since we became ghosts."

"So, in hopes that you two will rejoin the band, we booked a new gig."

Luke handed Emilia a flyer, and she looked down at it with Julie peering over her shoulder to see it as well. It read Eats and Beats: New Music Night. Emilia inwardly sighed. They just didn't get it, did they?

"A mega important, life-changing gig," Reggie said.

Emilia raised an eyebrow at him and handed the flyer off to Julie. "Sorry, but I came in here to get my songbook, not hear about a new gig."

She spotted her red songbook on top of the piano, just where she had left it yesterday. Emilia walked over to it. However, just as her hand grasped the songbook, a pair of arms behind her picked her up by her waist and carried her away from the piano.

"And I'm being carried away," she muttered. The person finally set her feet down on the ground, and she turned to see Luke smirking at her. She hit him on the top of her head with the songbook. "Don't carry me, idiot. What do you want?"

"Check it out," Luke rushed out upon noticing the unimpressed look on her face, and on Julie's as well. "Tons of managers go here to listen to new bands. All we gotta do is blow them all away, and we're living the dream."

Julie looked up at him. "So this means a lot to you, huh?" The smile dropped off of Luke's face. "Kind of how playing in front of our whole entire school meant to me and Emilia."

"Sounds like sarcasm," Reggie noticed. He gasped and leaned closer to Alex. "I'm starting to think our plan isn't working."

"Look, we know we messed up," Alex admitted.

"But we need you two in the band," Luke revealed.

"Of course you do," Julie replied. "Because without me or Em, no one can see you guys playing."

Emilia held up her songbook. "I truly believe that the songs that we were writing were special, but I'm not sure if those feelings are reciprocated. You got so caught up your past that you didn't even care about the present going on all around you."

"Lia, what are you even saying?" Luke questioned incredulously. "Of course I care. And the music we were writing was special."

"Then why don't I believe you?" Emilia countered.

Luke hesitated for a moment. "Our band has a real chance at greatness. I'm not gonna let that get away from us again."

"Uh-huh," Julie responded. "Right. So then why did you bail on Emilia and I to get back at Trevor? I'll tell you why. 'Cause there's only one thing you care about, and that's yourself."

Emilia winced. Sure, she was mad at him, but Julie might've took it a little too far. In all of the time she had spent with Luke, Emilia knew that he wasn't like that. Julie stormed off away from the studio. Emilia watched after her for a moment before turning back to the boys. Luke had a completely crestfallen look on his face and tears were starting to gather in his eyes.

She felt her heart slightly shatter as she tucked her songbook into her chest. "You still broke my promise and went after Bobby instead of performing with us. I'm still mad and won't forgive you until you prove to me you're really real about this and that I can trust you again. But you know what Julie said, pinky swears are a sacred thing, and you broke it."

"Lia—" Luke began.

Emilia held up her hand, making him stop. "Don't try to make excuses, Luke. But I will tell you one thing; Julie didn't mean that. She's just really hurt right now, as am I. So please, just give us some space for a little while."

"Emilia." Luke paused, his hands fidgeting by his sides, almost begging to reach out to her. "I — I'm sorry."

She nodded sadly. "So am I."

Emilia didn't give any of them a chance to respond. She turned and began walking up the path to the house, completely oblivious to the fact how much Luke was hurting as well.

When she arrived back inside, Julie had already started working on her homework again. Emilia put down her songbook on the coffee table and sat down on the couch. She pulled her history textbook onto her lap and began to read the pages assigned.

Alex and Reggie then appeared in front of them. Emilia and Julie paid them no attention.

"Hey, you, uh . . . you two got a second?" Alex asked.

Neither of them answered him. Emilia glanced up for a moment before sighing and focusing back on the textbook pages.

"Oh my gosh, they can't see us anymore!" Reggie exclaimed.

Alex gave him a look.

"Oh, right. Yep."

Alex circled around the table and sat on the arm of the couch next to Emilia. "Emilia, Julie, please."

Emilia looked up at him for longer this time. "I asked you to give us space. Can you please respect that?"

"Yeah, we get that, okay?" Alex responded. "But before you decide if you want to leave the band forever, we just . . . we wanted you to know that Luke isn't as selfish as you think he is."

"Yeah, you've got him all wrong," Reggie agreed.

While Julie sighed and looked back down at her notes, Emilia closed her textbook. "How so?"

"You remember that song Unsaid Emily?" Alex questioned, and Emilia nodded. "Can we at least show you who that's actually about?"

Emilia looked over to Julie. She sent a pleading glance to her. No matter how mad she was, Luke still managed to hold a soft spot in her heart. Julie gave her a small nod as she finally gave in.

"Fine," Emilia sighed. "But I'm driving."

𐄁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 A LONG car ride of being told directions and Reggie and Alex being completely fascinated by the technology cars had nowadays, they finally made it to a small yet cute house. Emilia parked her car on the street, and Alex and Reggie led her and Julie to the backyard. They all hid behind trees and wicker chairs that sat on the patio. Emilia could see a woman and a man walking around the kitchen inside the house.

Emilia peered past her tree for a better look, only to see the familiar figure of Luke sitting on the counter with his knees tucked into his chest and tears falling down his face. Her expression softened and all her anger faded away at the sight of him crying. He looked so completely and utterly broken.

"Where are we?" Emilia inquired quietly.

"Luke's parents' house," Alex answered, and pointed to the woman. "That's Emily."

"So, Emily's his mom?" Julie asked.

Reggie nodded. "Yeah."

"Yeah, Luke comes here a lot," Alex admitted.

"He thinks we don't know, but . . . we've been following him. All he does is just hang out like this and watch them. They never really do anything, though."

Emilia frowned. She watched as Emily set a cake down on the table in the kitchen. Emilia saw Luke stare after his mother longingly.

"Our names are similar," Emilia noticed. "Emily and Emilia. It's not too far off."

"I think that's one of the reasons why he's so fond of you," Alex revealed. "You remind him a lot of her."

Emilia's heart slightly warmed. If Luke saw a little bit of his mother in her, she guessed that was a good thing.

"They're having cake," Julie voiced. "That's something."

"It's a . . . it's a birthday cake," Reggie replied. "For Luke."

Emilia's eyes widened, and they suddenly filled with tears as well. "It's his birthday?"

She had no idea. Now, all she wanted to do was run in that house and give him a huge hug. However, she refrained from doing so, because if Luke's parents saw a strange girl run into their house and hug air, they would probably call the police.

"I — I never knew how much he was hurting," Emilia breathed out. "Oh, Luke."

"Yeah," Alex stated. "It's even worse because when he died, he . . . left on bad terms. You know, his parents didn't want their seventeen-year-old in a rock band, so . . . he just left. He never got the chance to make up with them."

A tear fell down Emilia's cheek. All Luke wanted to do was follow his dreams and his parents didn't approve. And now he was dead, and he had no chance to fix what had been broken. Emilia could never imagine going through that type of pain.

Luke slid off of the counter. As his father lit the candle on the cake, Luke blew it out. His parents glanced around, looking for any possible explanation as to why the flame suddenly went out. Little did they know it was their son. Emilia sniffled and wiped away another tear that managed to fall.

"That's why Luke was so angry," Reggie continued. "If Trevor had given Luke credit for writing all the songs, then . . . his parents would've known his dream was worth chasing."

Luke sat down in the empty chair at the table. He stated at his parents wistfully like he would give up anything in the world to talk to them again, which he probably would.

"They would've been so proud," Julie commented.

His father relit the candle. He held out his hand, and Emily took it. Luke joined in with blowing out the birthday candle with his parents. Emilia squeezed her eyes shut. More tears rolled down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away as she opened them again.

Alex stood up and looked between her and Julie. "We know how bad it hurts whenever someone that should've had your back . . . completely lets you down. We never meant to make you both feel that way."

"Julie, Emilia, we love our band," Reggie said. "And Luke does too. Please give us another chance."

Emilia and Julie shared a teary-eyed glance. And, right then and there, they knew their answer.

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

EMILIA'S RED MICROPHONE felt natural in her hands as she stood next to Julie. Alex tapped his drumsticks together three times, and him, Reggie, and Julie began to play the music to Finally Free on their drums, bass, and keyboard respectively. It was Julie's verse to sing, so Emilia leaned her hip against the side of the keyboard while holding her microphone and waited.

"Marching on proud, turn it up loud, 'cause now we know what we're worth," Julie sang.

Suddenly, Luke appeared in the studio and sat in a chair. He quickly sprung up from it once he noticed what was going on.

"Woah," Luke commented. "Lia, Julie."

Emilia nodded her head in Reggie and Alex's direction. "Go grab your guitar, Ghost Boy. We have work to do before our performance tonight."

Luke glanced between her and the boys for a moment before chuckling. He grabbed his guitar off the stand and walked up to the keyboard where Julie and Emilia were.

"What made you two come back?" Luke questioned.

"I realized how important music is to all of us," Julie answered. "So did Em. And we've lost so much already. We can't lose this, too."

Luke nodded. "Thanks." He stared at Emilia for a moment longer, and his eyes flickered up and down her figure, making her heart race all over again. "All right, boss, where we at?"

Emilia nodded to her best friend. "If anyone's the boss, it's Julie."

Julie snapped her fingers. "Damn straight."

Emilia laughed slightly. "And we're at Finally Free."

"Ooh," Luke said. "An Emilia and Luke original."

He raised his hand for a high-five, and Emilia happily obliged. However, she gripped his hand for a moment.

"Happy birthday, by the way," Emilia voiced.

She let go of his hand and smiled. Luke sent her a shocked expression, making her chuckle. She shook her head and watched as he walked back to his place by Alex.

"Let's go from the pre-chorus," Julie announced.

"One, two, three, four!" Alex counted while tapping his drumsticks.

And as the entire band began to play and sing together, Emilia had never felt more at home.

-ˋˏ ༻ ☁︎ ༺ ˎˊ-

fun fact: emilia's name being so close to emily's is a total coincidence like I seriously didn't plan that or notice it until somebody pointed it out so yeah that's fun

also thank you for 13k reads on this book!!! <333