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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐓

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The music from the gym continued to fill Lexi's ears as she ran through the halls and away from the spirit assembly. She kept her head down while walking past her peers and teachers in the halls and trying to keep the tears forming in her eyes at bay. When she finally found an empty classroom, the redhead locked the door behind her before pressing her back against the wood and sliding down until she was sitting on the ground. Memories from her last performance with Dirty Candy filled her head as the tears she was holding back broke free. After bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms tightly around them, Lexi placed her head within them and cried as hard as she did when the event that gave her stage fright first happened.

Due to her shedding tears at her past misfortunes, Lexi was unaware of Reggie appearing in the classroom a few moments ago. After watching the Daniels girl's happiness fade in an instant when she talked to that boy in the gym, the Peters boy grew concerned. So, as soon as he finished his conversation with Luke, Alex, and Julie, the bassist was able to sneak away from them to look for Lexi. What he didn't expect was to find her crying in an empty classroom on the other side of the school.

The ghost stood awkwardly on the other side of the room with a blank expression on his face, not sure exactly how to make himself known without startling the distraught girl. As her sobs continued to cut through the air, Reggie put his worries about scaring Lexi aside before walking over and sitting down next to her.

"Hey," the bassist greeted, causing the girl next to him to grow stiff before she lifted her head off her knees to meet the concerned ghost's gaze, "I, uh, I saw you run out of the gym when that guy whispered something to you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Silence surrounded the two once again as Lexi studied the boy's concerned face for a moment before letting a sigh pass over her lips. She brought her knees back up to her chest and placed her head back on them as she stared at the floor in front of her, trying to find the courage to tell Reggie exactly what made her react the way she did.

"To be honest, I don't know if I'm okay. The guy that you saw talking to me was Carter. We have...I guess history is the best way to sum it up," Lexi began as she fiddled with her fingers while keeping her eyes glued to her feet, "we used to write songs together for his sister's band, which was the one that performed right before Julie. I...I used to be in that band. About a year ago, I was getting ready with Carrie and the other Dirty Candy dancers to perform at our talent show. What I didn't know was their plan to humiliate me because I was 'stealing their spotlight.' Or at least that's what they told me."

The redhead hesitated for a moment before glancing over at the boy next to her to find him looking back at her with curiosity and concern in his eyes. After letting out another long breath, Lexi's brown eyes went back to her feet before she continued her tale.

"While we were dancing on stage, Carter and one of his friends were in the wings. We did this thing where we were supposed to end up in a line before the boys pulled on the ends of a wire that was onstage, which made it lift a little bit. I didn't see it in time and I tripped over it and bumped into Kayla, causing a domino effect to happen. Everyone ended up falling onto the stage before the speakers that were attached to the wires ended up falling, which somehow led to all the power going out. Carrie blamed me for everything that happened and started calling me 'Dopey Daniels.' The nickname caught on and soon the whole school started calling me that. It didn't stop until a few months ago."

Lexi felt a small wave of relief wash over her after telling her story to someone who wasn't there for the first time. After she took in that feeling, she looked over at the ghost next to her to see him staring back with an unreadable expression on his face. The two just watched each other, waiting for the other to break through the stillness that started to surround them again, before Reggie finally opened his mouth to speak.

"They really did that to you?" he asked in a tone just above a whisper that held so much concern within it. Lexi was slightly taken aback at the sincerity in his voice before quickly shaking it off and nodding in response while placing her head back on her knees. All positive emotions she once felt slowly faded as she waited for him to react the way most of her peers did. But what threw the Daniels girl off the most was the words that came out of his mouth next. Words that she didn't hear from anyone other than her two best friends and her family.

"I'm really sorry that happened to you, Lexi."

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Lexi's school day ended at 1:30, about an hour before her two best friends, thanks to her early morning class. Unlike her normal routine, she decided to take the bus home instead of waiting around for Julie and Flynn to finish because she really didn't want to run into the Wilson siblings. When she walked through the door of her house, she was greeted by silence due to both her parents working until 5:00 while her brother and Cami were tutoring until 3:30. Lexi just stood there for a moment longer before walking to her room to start her homework.

After completing her math and history assignments, the stillness of the house became too much for her. Lexi let the pencil fall from her hands and looked out the window at the Molina house across the street. Her eyes stay glued to the blue building for a moment before she let out a sigh. Once she stuffed her songbook into her bag, she began her journey to Julie's to hang out with the ghosts of Sunset Curve. When she opened the door of the studio, the first thing Lexi saw was Alex pacing back and forth in front of Luke and Reggie. After watching the drummer pace a few more times, Lexi made her way over to an empty chair before kicking her feet over the arm to watch the scene unfold.

"I think he's practicing his model strut," the Daniels girl heard Reggie whisper to Luke, causing a small smile to form on her lips as her eyes continued to follow the panicking Alex.

"He's so nervous, he's almost making me nervous," Luke responded before the drummer finally came to a stop in front of the three of them with a freaked-out look plastered onto his face.

"Okay, look, you guys know I don't handle change well. Alright? Death? That was a change. Okay? Then we became ghosts. alright? Another change," the Mercer boy explained himself as he waved his hands around in front of him before he pointed to Lexi, causing confusion to flow through her as her brown eyes met his blue ones, "and...and now I find out that my brother married Rachel Daniels and had two kids literally hours before discovering we can be seen whenever we play with Julie. These are big freaking changes!"

"Oh, that reminds me, your last name is Daniels, right?" Reggie asked as he peered around Luke to look at Lexi, who simply nodded in response to his question, "okay, so why is it Daniels if Andy's last name was Mercer?"

"Uh, I don't think this is the best time to answer that question," Lexi said as she glanced away from the two brunette ghosts to Alex's stressed features before her eyes landed on Luke and Reggie once again, "we should probably stay focused on what's in front of us."

"Actually, I was curious about that too," Alex told her as he ran a hand through his hair. The redhead hesitated for a moment as she studied the millions of emotions flashing across her newly discovered uncle before letting out a sigh to prepare for the long explanation.

"My dad chose to take my mom's last name after her parents died in a car accident a week before their wedding. Since she was their only child, she wanted to keep her family name alive," the young girl explained as the three ghosts of Sunset Curve watched her with a blank look in their eyes. Knowing exactly why they were confused, Lexi let out another long breath before trying to find the right words so that her next reveal wouldn't hit Alex too hard. "This isn't how I wanted to tell you, especially since you're already freaking out about other things, but I have another uncle on my dad's side...your younger brother. His name is Isaac. He was born in 1998."

The look that appeared on Alex's face was one that Lexi knew well. He looked totally and utterly broken and confused after taking in the new information that she gave to him. Silence surrounded them for the first time since the Daniels girl arrived, only for Luke to clear his throat to cut through it and draw the attention back to him.

"Yeah, but, bro, those last two things that you said were good changes," the shaggy-haired boy said as he leaned forward on his knees before a smirk appeared on his face, "you got to see what happened to Andy after all these years and, with Julie and Lexi, we can play on stage again and be the band we never got to be. Come on. I mean, you gotta be down for that."

"Yeah, I mean, who wouldn't be?" Alex responded with his hands out in front of him for emphasis before placing them back into his pockets.

"I'm not. I didn't agree to anything and I'm definitely not joining any bands," Lexi retaliated against the boy in the orange beanie's previous statement before crossing her arms over her chest and slouching down on the chair.

While the Daniels girl looked anywhere but the three ghost boys, Reggie signaled for his friends not to push the topic of Lexi performing with them. After the guitarist and the drummer sent their bassist a confused look, everyone turned their attention back to Alex to continue addressing the situation at hand.

"I wanna figure out why," the Mercer boy finished his previous statement.

"Forget why," Luke told him as he got to his feet, "man, I say we invite Julie...and Lexi, whenever you're ready, to join Sunset Curve."

"Yeah, totally," Reggie agreed with a smile on his face while standing up next to his friend in the orange beanie, "I mean, like, think about it. With a new lead singer, this band would be legendary."

"Hey! I'm our lead singer."

"Dude, that girl has the voice of an angel and she can make us visible. Without her, we're just like elevator music."

"You don't gotta be so mean about it," the guitarist mumbled before turning his attention back to their drummer and letting out an annoyed sigh, "and we're on the runway again."

Lexi failed to hold back her laugh at Luke and Reggie's banter, causing the two boys to send her a smile, while Alex stopped pacing before turning to face the three once again.

"Okay, I'm sorry, alright? I just..." the blonde ghost paused for a moment before his eyes left his two bandmates to meet Lexi's brown ones. The two just stared at each other for a long moment before the younger girl sent him a small smile, only for Alex to break eye contact with her and let out a sigh. "I gotta go clear my head."

The tiny grin that was once on the redhead's face slowly fell as she watched Alex turn away from her and make his way toward the door. As soon as he arrived at the wooden objects, he quickly reached for the handle and tried to grab it, only for his hand to phase right through it. The Mercer let out another long sigh before trying again and receiving the same result.

"Dude, you're a ghost. Just poof out," Reggie told his blonde friend after watching his failed third attempt.

"Don't tell me how to ghost!" Alex shouted then turned to face the door one more time before flashing out of the room.

"I don't think he likes me very much," Lexi mumbled as she slid down in her chair a little bit more while keeping her eyes glued to where Alex just vanished after his mini freak out. When she looked up at the two remaining ghost boys, the Daniels girl found them staring back at her with confusion on their faces.

"Oh, come on," the redhead scoffed while sitting up in her chair and facing the two brunette boys then gestured to the general area where their blonde ghost friend was pacing, "he was just staring at me with a blank look in his eyes before saying 'I gotta go clear my head' then he poofed out. Doesn't exactly show me that he wants to be friends."

"If there's one thing you need to understand about Alex, it's that he isn't great with new things being thrown at him out of nowhere," Luke told her as he and Reggie sat back down on the couch behind them with small smiles on their faces, "just give him some time. I'm sure he'll come around."

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