────── ♫♫♫ ──────

────── ♫♫♫ ──────

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟓
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐓 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐋𝐘

────── ♫♫♫ ──────

As soon as the stereo stopped playing the song Ryder wanted to show his younger sister, he took out the CD and placed it back in its case. Happiness took over every inch of him as he thought back to the stories of his parents writing songs and performing in front of an audience, like him, Cami, and Lexi...before everything that happened last year. After he set the CD case on his sister's nightstand, Ryder turned around to face the younger girl to see her reaction to the song. The smile on his face slowly faded and was replaced by confusion when he found the redheaded girl staring at the wall with a shocked expression in her eyes.

Unknown to him, Lexi was studying the facial features of the blonde ghost in front of her as her father's stories about how he and her mom would always open for his twin brother and his band. While she continued to stare at Alex as if she was meeting him for the first time all over again, the three boys looked back at her with surprised expressions on their faces, still trying to process the fact that Rachel Daniels, one of their best friends back in 1995, was Lexi's mother.

The Daniels girl stayed frozen like a statue for another moment before Ryder took a step forward and waved his hand in front of her face. His action quickly snapped Lexi out of her daze as her brown eyes left the ghosts of Sunset Curze to meet the concerned look on her brother's face. As soon as she realized her mistake, she jumped to her feet before an innocent smile took the place of her previous expression.

"That song was amazing!" she exclaimed, trying to cover up what looked like her zoning out to him. After seeing the skeptical look in Ryder's eyes, she forced the grin on her face to grow before taking the case into her hands to study the logo that she drew every time she doodled in her notebook. "I can't believe Mom wrote that."

"Well, she helped some guy named write it. I think his name was Lewis? Or maybe it was Liam?" the older redhead responded with scrunched-up eyebrows. As he tried to remember the name of his mother's childhood friend, he was completely oblivious to the irritated look Luke was sending his way. "Anyway, he was in a band with Uncle Alex and their other friend named Reggie."

"Oh, so you remember his name," Luke scoffed while pointing to the leather-clothed boy next to him as Alex stared at the siblings with disbelief in his eyes, still trying to take in all the information that was being thrown his way.

"I thought his name was Xander?" Lexi questioned while holding back the laughter threatening to escape her due to Luke's reaction to her brother's lack of memory.

"That's just what Mom and Dad called him, also why my middle name is Xander, but most people called him Alex," Ryder responded, placing their parents' old songbooks back on his sister's shelf before laying the case on top of them.

After Ryder told her to keep the CD, he sent his sister one last smile before walking out of her room and closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, the three ghosts appeared out of nowhere in front of the shorter girl, causing her to let out a small yelp and stumble backward before landing on her bed. Lexi pushed herself up on her elbows before sending them a playful glare and sitting up on her bed. Even though Luke, Alex, and Reggie stayed silent, the redhead knew all three of them had a million questions running through their heads.

"Why didn't you tell us you were Andy and Rachel's daughter?" Alex questioned as he fiddled with his fingers in front of him with a look on his face that seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Well, for one, I thought your name was Xander and you never really got close enough for me to actually see how much you look like my dad so I didn't really put two and two together until now. Also, my parents never told me the name of your band or showed me any of your songs. Probably because it's always really hard for them to talk about you guys," Lexi rambled while running her hands through her hair before looking back up to meet their stares, "plus, I've also been pretty overwhelmed by the fact that I am one of the only ones who can see a ghost band from the '90s."

Just as she was calming down, her mind played a cruel joke on her by reminding her of the upcoming project she had to complete. A sigh passed over Lexi's lips as she rubbed her hands over her face once again before collapsing back onto her bed. While the three studio spirits continued to watch the younger girl in concern and confusion, Lexi wondered how her life could possibly get more complicated.

────── ♫♫♫ ──────

After the craziness she experienced the night before, Lexi was in the music room as she continued to work on one of her unfinished songs. Sitting a few chairs down from her was Flynn, who had her feet propped up on the chair in front of her as she played the trumpet discordantly. The Daniels girl flinched at one of the loud, off-key notes her friend was playing before looking up to send Flynn a playful glare, only for her to stop midway through her actions when she saw Julie walking towards them.

Their third musketeer came to a stop a few feet away from the doorway as she stared in front of the pair. After Lexi sent her a shrug in response to her confused look, Julie turned her attention to Flynn as she continued to hurt her friends' ears with her trumpet playing.

"What are you doing? And where is everyone?" the Molina girl questioned, causing their colorful-clothed friend to stop playing the trumpet before the latter finally looked over at Julie.

"Spirit assembly. I was kinda blowing it off because I wasn't feeling very...spirity," Flynn sighed as she brought the brass instrument into her lap while Lexi carefully closed her songbook to fully emerge herself into their conversation.

"I just didn't wanna go. Wasn't really in the mood to watch Carrie show off," the Daniels girl added before zipping up her bag and placing her notebook inside.

"You okay?" the girl with the trumpet asked, causing Lexi to look back up to see the distraught look on her curly-haired friend's face.

"Not really," Julie responded before letting out a long sigh, "I had this new plan to play for Mrs. Harrison, hoping that she'd let me back in, but...I guess I missed my chance."

"No, you didn't," Flynn told her with a devious smirk that sent chills through Lexi's body as the former set the trumpet down and jumped to her feet. Before either of the girls could ask their friend what was going through her head, the colorful-clothed girl grabbed her two best friends by the wrists before dragging them out of the room and towards the gym.

As soon as the three of them entered the room where the spirit rally was taking place, their attention landed on Carrie and her Dirty Candy backup dancers as they performed in the center of the basketball court. While Flynn and Julie talked about how the Wilson girl's access to her dad's money paid off, Lexi's eyes were drawn to Carter. The Wilson boy was staring back at her from the front row of the bleachers with a smirk on his face as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. Even though it was tweaked a lot from what she originally planned, the redheaded girl could tell this was the last song she wrote with him for Carrie's band.

Because her eyes kept going back and forth between the Wilson siblings, Lexi was oblivious to the ghosts of Sunset Curve when they popped in right by her side until Julie started freaking out. When the redhead turned her attention to the three boys, she found Reggie staring at the dancers on the court like nothing else mattered.

"Man, I miss high school," the boy in plaid said, making an unexpected wave of jealousy flood through Lexi before she shook it off and turned her attention back to the dancers.

As they continued to watch Dirty Candy perform, she caught Alex copying one of their dance moves out of the corner of her eyes. Luke instantly smacked his arm to get the blonde ghost to stop dancing while Lexi let out a sigh as Julie sent him a glare. The Daniels girl's eyes stayed plastered onto the brightly dressed group as they danced in a circle around Carrie. A breath got caught in her throat as the memories of writing the lyrics with Carter came swarming back. It wasn't long before her train of thought was derailed when Reggie magically appeared by her side.

"What has you all down in the dumps?" the goofy boy questioned the shorter girl with a small smile on his face at the same time Flynn looked over at her redheaded best friend, only to find her looking down at her shoes while unconsciously hugging herself.

"That's your song, isn't it?" Flynn asked, oblivious to the fact that she answered Reggie's question while Lexi nodded in response to both of her friends.

Just as the Daniels girl opened her mouth to speak to the two at her sides, the music stopped before the applause from the students in the stands filled the air. Unaware of the curious and confused look Reggie was sending her, Lexi's jaw slammed shut as she watched Carter make his way to his sister's side. The two of them thanked the crowd and self-promoted themselves while the Dirty Candy dancers proudly stood behind them. The sibling duo took in the crowd one last time with giant grins on their faces before marching off the court with their minions in tow.

As soon as she was gone, Mrs. Harrison stepped up with the principal at her side to address the students sitting in the stands. Lexi watched them as they tried to connect with the crowd, only to be greeted by an awkward silence before the principal jumped into the announcements she wanted to share.

"Now's your chance. Go talk to her. And take Lexi with you," Flynn stated, causing Lexi and Julie to turn their attention away from the two staff members to meet their best friend's smiling face. Without waiting for a response, Flynn turned and walked up the steps that lead to the stands while shouting "see you in music class" over her shoulder, leaving Lexi and Julie standing there next to the ghosts of Sunset Curve.

"What are you two waiting for?" Reggie questioned, causing Lexi's whole body to tense at the idea of getting up on stage. While she blankly stared at him, the boy in plaid pointed behind him at the empty stage as a small smile began to form on his face. "This is your time!"

"Yeah. I mean, you both look really nervous. Like yack in a bowl nervous," Alex added as he studied the girls in front of him before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Since when was this my time? I never got the memo that this was my time. Last I checked this was Julie's time. Not mine. I don't even know what she's singing," Lexi rambled in a low tone while trying to keep the nerves that had been building up inside her at bay. After letting a shaky breath pass over her lips, she ignored the curious looks of the ghost band and focused all her attention on her best friend. "I'm sorry, Jules. But I...I can't. Not yet."

"I get it, Ali. I'm not gonna make you go up there with me," Julie smiled while placing a comforting hand on the redhead's arm, causing the latter to force a grateful smile before visibly calming down. Once the Molina girl was sure her friend wasn't going to have her first panic attack in months, she turned her gaze back to the three boys standing behind her. "And I'm nervous because I don't think I had enough time to work on the song."

"I wouldn't have given you the song if I didn't think you were gonna rock it," Luke told the curly-haired girl as a smirk formed on his face before he turned to point to the instrument sitting alone on the stage behind him, "now, there's a piano on that stage with your name on it."

As the sound of the principal's announcements filled the silence that grew between the five of them, a small smile formed on Julie's face before she rushed up the small set of stairs and towards the large instrument. Lexi's feet stayed planted in her spot with the ghost boys standing behind her while they watched Julie place her hands on the keys as the crowd of students began to disburse.

The Molina girl hesitated for a moment then looked over at Lexi and the boys, only for Luke to shout words of encouragement to the frightened girl. Her shaky breath could be heard through the speakers before she began playing the intro to her song once again. As the crowd continued to make their way towards the exit, the lights on the stage dimmed until the last one was pointed at Julie right before she began to sing into the microphone in front of her. A smile formed on Lexi's face as she watched one of her best friends sing for the first time since her mom passed. As the joy within the Daniels girl grew, some of the crowd slowed to watch the surprise solo singer perform.

Just as Julie reached the chorus of the song, the ghosts of Sunset Curve disappeared from Lexi's side before taking their places with the Molina girl onstage. A laugh passed over the redhead's lips as she watched Julie get up to interact with the three boys before her fellow students began to surround her. Her brown eyes scanned the crowd as they danced along to the music, causing the happiness Lexi previously felt to fade into shock before she realized what was going on.

Everyone could see Sunset Curve.

Lexi's attention was drawn to a head of pink hair pushing her way through the crowd before Carrie appeared with Kayla at her side. The bubblegum princess stared at the Molina girl with disdain in her eyes as the latter continued to dance with the three boys on stage. A small smile appeared on Lexi's face at the Wilson girl's irritation before a hand was placed on the former's shoulder, causing her to turn to see a frustrated Carter staring back at her.

"Do you and Molina really think you can out-shine Carrie and me with your boy band?" he questioned in a tone that sent chills up Lexi's spine.

The Daniels girl stared into the dark brown eyes in front of her for another moment before shaking off her negative feelings and turning her back to the boy. Once Lexi's attention returned to the stage, the ghosts of Sunset Curve waved at her to join them at the piano, causing a few people to glance over at the girl. The redhead swallowed the lump in her throat as her eyes stayed glued to the band on stage, unaware of the devious smirk forming on Carter's face.

"Are you really gonna go up there with them? You're just gonna repeat what happened last year...Dopey Daniels," the brunette boy whispered into the girl's ear.

The familiar nickname that was forgotten by most a few months ago caused Lexi's whole body to grow stiff once again. Her breathing became rapid as her mind flashed back to what happened during her last performance with Dirty Candy. Just before she felt like she was gonna break down, her eyes landed on a concerned Reggie while Luke and Julie shared a moment together on stage. The two of them stared at each other as the boy in plaid continued to play along with the band before the Daniels girl turned and rushed out of the gym.

────── ♫♫♫ ──────

────── ♫♫♫ ──────