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Chapter Text

"Who is that?" Alex was still trailing behind Carrie on his tour of the cafeteria when his eyes landed on the cutest smile he had ever seen; it belonged to a boy with deep brown eyes that crinkled at the corners when he grinned, as though smiling with only his lips just wasn't enough. His long, dark hair was tucked behind his ear on one side to reveal a small, silver hoop.

One perfectly shaped eyebrow raised, Carrie followed his gaze to the table he'd become fixated on. She huffed a laugh, folding her arms so that one was across her chest and the other was resting over her heart. "That is Willie Covington, and - can I give you some advice? From a place of love, of course."

Alex nodded with a small gulp, even though they'd only met that morning when Carrie had been assigned to look after him on his first day. "Sure," he replied, his eyes still fixated on Willie as he reached over to accept a grape from one of his friends, a girl with gorgeous dark curls and a soft-looking yellow jumper.

"Don't bother," Carrie smirked. "Willie doesn't date."

Alex nodded, attempting not to feel too disappointed, considering he had only laid eyes on Willie for the first time less than one minute ago. "Oh. Oh, well, if he doesn't like-"

"Oh, no," Carrie cut him off. She gestured to one of the little round, plastic seats attached to the dinner table, an invitation for Alex to take a seat at her usual table. There was a group of girls already sitting there, who all waved when they saw Carrie, but merely glanced at Alex with slight curiosity. They didn't ask follow-up questions before returning to their conversations. "I mean, like, hypothetically he would date, but he and his friends," Carrie rolled her eyes, "they have a 'pact'." She bent her fingers into little quotation marks as she said this.

That didn't exactly clear much up for Alex. "A pact? What does that even mean?"

Carrie's mouth twitched upwards at the corners, "Well, you see, a pact is when two or more people agree to-"

"I know what a pact is," Alex cut her off impatiently, halfway into taking a bite from his hot dog.

Carrie snorted, "You're not gonna get a date with Willie either way, okay? Why do you need to know?"

"Because," Alex replied between swallows, "I'm curious, okay? I like to ask questions!"

"I gathered," Carrie said, dipping one of her fries into the mustard on her hot dog. As Alex stared at her, clearly expecting her to elaborate, she sighed. "Okay, fine. See that girl?" She pointed towards the third member of the group, a short girl with long, black braids, a pair of neon green hoop earrings, and a cow print bucket hat who was explaining something animatedly to her friends. "That's Flynn. She and-" Carrie stopped herself, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "She went through a pretty rough breakup last year; it rocked her pretty hard - or at least that's what I've heard, I mean - so she's fully sworn off dating. Julie and Willie joined her as an act of solidarity, or whatever."

Alex hummed, "That's sort of sweet of them, I guess."

“The only exception, however,” Carrie continued, “is if all three of them manage to get dates to the masked ball next month.”

Ignoring the fact that Carrie knew a suspicious amount about this arrangement, Alex’s eyebrows furrowed, “Wait, the what?” What kind of High School had a masked ball? What was this – the 1600s?

“It’s basically just a Halloween party that everyone takes super seriously,” Carrie explained. His eyes drifted back over to Willie, and he allowed himself - just for a moment - to imagine the two of them at the masked ball, dancing in matching costumes, holding hands, posing for pictures...

Alex had never had a boyfriend before; he'd barely allowed himself to entertain the idea of any of his crushes actually going anywhere. 

He didn't need a boyfriend, of course. Obviously. Still...it couldn't hurt to appreciate a cute boy from afar.

Or maybe it could - especially when said cute boy chose that exact moment to lift his head from whatever piece of paper his friend - Julie, he assumed - was currently showing him to push a loose strand of hair out of his face. As Willie did this, his eyes met Alex's from across the room, and there was no doubt that he'd noticed that Alex had been looking.

Surprised, Alex felt his entire face and neck heat up rapidly, taking a sharp intake of breath. Unfortunately, he hadn't quite finished chewing his last bite of hot dog, which shot directly to the back of his throat, lodging itself there as he inhaled.

Willie seemed to jump out of his skin as Alex began spluttering and clutching at his chest, attempting to control his sudden cough attack. Carrie, also surprised by the sudden movement, had started to pound at Alex's back with her fist as he coughed up what felt like an entire lung.

It was worse though; after at least ten seconds of struggling, all that emerged was a tiny chunk of sausage as Alex began to catch his breath.

"Oh my god," he gasped, regretting not remembering to grab a bottle of water with his lunch.

"Please try not to choke under my care," Carrie sighed with exasperation - at least she'd waited until she was sure that she wouldn't have to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre. 

"That was so humiliating," Alex mumbled. He was entirely aware that Willie had watched the entire ordeal, wide-eyed and...concerned? There was a little concern there, Alex decided - but maybe it was just pity because, god, why did he have to be so embarassing? 

And why was Willie walking his way?!

"Uh," Willie smiled that incredible smile and Alex was pretty sure his eyes were about melt from being so close to it, "you okay, dude?"

Alex cleared his throat, just to be sure that the coughs were all gone before he answered. "A-absolutely fine, thank you." He nodded, hoping that Willie hadn't noticed that his face was redder than the ketchup Carrie was currently dipping a fry into.

"Here, have this," Willie laughed as he handed him the bottle of water he'd been holding. "I haven't opened it, so don't worry about germs or anything."

"Oh!" Alex stared at the bottle for a moment, shocked by the small act of kindness.

Carrie raised her eyebrow again, glancing between Willie and Alex. "Are you going to take it or what?" She smirked, and Alex suddenly remembered himself. 

"Yes! Yes, absolutely." He took the bottle from Willie and began to unscrew the cap. "Thanks, uh..." he trailed off, pretending not to know his name - look, it would be too weird if Willie found out they'd been talking about him, and Alex wanted to at least try to save his reputation.

"Willie! Nice to meet you..."

"Oh, it's Alex! Sorry, I'm not usually, you know..."

"Choking? It's all good man," Willie laughed, and Alex thought his chest was about to explode. "Well, I'd better get back to my friends, we're planning a birthday party for Julie, so it's all hands on deck." His attention had turned to Carrie, "I'm sure you'd be welcome, Carrie. I can ask-"

"I'd rather you didn't, thanks," Carrie smiled sourly, folding her arms. However, Alex couldn't help but notice how her eyes drifted over to the table where the girls were sitting; he couldn't quite place the look on her face.

Alex felt a thick tension growing between them, waiting for one of them to say something to break it. Eventually, Willie simply shrugged. "Alright," he sighed. "I just thought...well, it was nice to meet you, hot dog," and then he winked. Alex hoped he'd managed a cool exterior (this could sometimes be difficult to achieve). "Please just be careful eating the rest, okay? I only have one bottle of water."

For a moment, Alex was so caught in the thrill of earning himself a nickname in his first conversation with Willie, that he missed his chance to protest what he'd chosen - he couldn't be reminded of the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to him every time he spoke to Willie.

That was, of course, if Willie ever wanted to speak to him again...god.

Okay, maybe he was overthinking - breath in for four, hold for four, out for four, repeat.

"He was nice, huh?" Alex said once Willie was back at his table and safely out of earshot.

Carrie turned back to her lunch, tapping her gloss-finished baby blue nails against the plastic tabletop. "He's fine," she muttered. "You still can't date him, though."

Alex rolled his eyes, preparing to protest despite knowing he wouldn't have a chance at winning a debate with Carrie. "I never-"

Luckily, before Alex could finish, he was rescued by...was it a guardian angel? A saviour in the form of a tall, dark-haired boy reaching over Carrie's shoulder to steal a fry?

"Hey!" She protested, reaching to swat his hand away a second too late. "Can you get your own, jerk?" The boy responded by - very maturely - chewing extra loudly with his mouth open, right next to Carrie's ear. "Ugh! Leave me alone or I'll-"

"Aw, come on Carrie!" He smirked. "I thought that being cousins meant that, like, what's mine is yours and vice versa."

"Well, you thought wrong," Carrie rolled her eyes, scrunching her nose with disgust. "You're so gross, Bobby. What do you want?" she snapped, but her cousin merely smirked. Alex could sort of see the resemblance now, through that single expression.

Bobby rested his chin on Carrie's head, asking, "Do you have a spare amp plug? Reggie's is broken and we want to rehearse after school."

"Why would I have a spare amp plug?"

"You're in a band, aren't you?" He asked, rolling his eyes.

"None of us play guitar, duh!" Carrie grumbled. "Besides, I thought rehearsal was off since your drummer bailed."

"We still have to practice, we can't just-"

Alex's ears perked up, his back straightening as he swivelled in his seat to face Bobby. "Wait - you need a drummer? I play!"

"Really?" Both Carrie and Bobby asked in unison.

"Yeah!" Alex grinned - maybe this could be his extracurricular! His chance to build himself a nice little circle of friends - even if two of them so far seemed to be engaged in some kind of family rivalry (the jury was still out on whether it was loving or not). "I could come show you after school if that works?" Alex offered, and Carrie groaned. 

"Like an audition!" Bobby nodded.

"Bobby, do you and your band of fools have to steal my new friend?" she complained. "What if I wanted to recruit him for Dirty Candi?"

Bobby smirked. "I win again, because if he joined Dirty Candi then the whole group would be thrown off balance - looks better on stage with an odd number."

There was a beat of silence until Carrie admitted defeat. "Ugh, fine."

"I like dancing too, though," Alex smiled at Carrie. "Maybe I can come to one of your rehearsals and you can teach me some choreo!" Honestly, he was just thrilled at the idea of having two potential extracurriculars already.

"See!" Bobby grinned. "Everybody wins."

"I'm Alex, by the way," he waved, unsure if it was protocol or not to shake hands with a potential new bandmate. That was possibly a little too formal. "Alex Mercer."

"Nice one. Wait - do you have an amp plug?"

Shrugging apologetically, Alex shook his head. "Sorry, man - drums don't plug in."

"Right," Bobby nodded, shoulders sinking. "Well, even so, we'll see you at 3:30 in the music room, yeah?"

"Sure!" Alex grinned. "Carrie, you can show me where that is, right?"

"I'm sure I can manage that," she replied. "And now Bobby is walking away."

"Am I not allowed to hang out with my favourite cousin at school?" Bobby asked, curving his mouth into an exaggerated frown.

"Hmmm," Carrie tapped her chin, pretending to consider her answer. "No. Now shoo, you can have Alex after school."

Alex had sort of...faded into the background at his old school, doing his best not to be noticed too much for fear that someone might notice the wrong things, but...he had a good feeling about his fresh start at Los Feliz. Aside from the 'almost choking on a hot dog' incident, of course.

****

"So, what was all that about?" Julie bit back a grin as Willie slipped back into his seat, now short of a water bottle.

Willie simply replied with a shrug and a brief explanation - "Being helpful." He attempted nonchalance, but Julie saw right through it, immediately noticing a new twinkle in Willie's eye as he glanced back across the cafeteria.

"Okay, Prince Charming," Julie waggled her eyebrows at Willie before slapping her hands to her legs, ready to make an announcement. "So! We should be all good to go for our monthly sleepover night - Willie, you're on pizza duty. Flynn, bring the playlist, and I will provide activities - questions?"

"Sure thing," Flynn clapped lightly as she grinned. "I have selected only the finest tunes for tonight."

"Usual toppings?" Willie checked, scribbling a quick reminder onto the back of his hand. "Julie likes pepperoni and mushroom, Flynn likes ham, and I-"

"Thow in some pineapple too, for me," Flynn interrupted, a proud look sneaking onto her face.

Julie raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you like pineapple on pizza?" Julie had known Flynn for pretty much her entire life, and until this moment, she'd been firmly anti-pineapple.

Flynn simply shrugged, "I'm re-inventing myself for the new year. I try new things now - I call it the 'Flynn Renaissance.'"

Julie giggled, and Willie grinned as he scribbled an extra note onto his hand. "I am fully in support of the Flynn Renaissance - we'll all try it together!"

"Ooh!" Julie piped up. "Fetch some cookies, too - chocolate chip!"

"Sure thing," Willie nodded, completing his list. "We shall feast like kings!" Willie boomed unnecessarily - yes, he'd done theatre in middle school.

"So," Flynn began as the others went back to their lunch. "Who's Carrie's new friend?" As she asked this, she seemed to be pretending to have a particular interest in the stack of friendship bracelets on her arms, twisting the beads of her 'BFF' bracelet. "Has she found someone else whose life she can ruin?"

Julie reached across to squeeze Flynn's knee - lunchtimes were the hardest - they were the one time of day that Flynn couldn't avoid Carrie coming into her line of vision. Whichever table they sat at, whichever direction they faced, their conversation would be interrupted by the chime of Carrie's unmistakable laugh, or the breeze of her hair swinging as she passed by. The thick tension was unavoidable and impossible to dissipate. 

"His name is Alex," Willie replied. "He seems cool."

Flynn made a short humming sound with a sharp nod. "She will chew him up and spit him out." She frowned, crunching on a particularly crispy piece of lettuce with a stern expression. Swallowing her mouthful of salad, she forced a smile and continued. "Anyway, I want to go on a Carrie cleanse, so...let's talk birthday parties!"

Julie clapped her hands together, happy for the swift change of subject. "Yes! So, I think we need to start making the playlist now, because it's never too early, and the music is the most important part." Flynn and Willie nodded in agreement. "Also, do we need a colour theme?"

Considering this, Flynn’s ‘planning face’ appeared as she became quiet. Eventually, she shook her head. “No to one colour, but maybe a more…abstract theme, for the vibes. Ideas?”

Willie clicked his fingers as an idea sprung to mind, “Julie, you like butterflies! You like flowers!”

“Yes!” Flynn reached out with her fist, inviting Willie to bump it. “Okay, okay, hear me out…” Flynn paused for a few seconds with outstretched hands, “Julie Molina’s Midsummer Night’s Dream! Except, like…in September, obviously.”

“Maybe Willie can reprise his performance as Puck from seventh grade,” Julie teased, grinning as Willie turned pink.

“Are you ever gonna let me forget that?” He groaned, most likely reminded of Flynn and Julie’s promise that on his wedding day, pictures of him in his cute, leafy costume would be pasted on every lamppost in the neighbourhood.

“You were a very cute little pixie, I promise,” Julie grinned, nudging Willie’s ankle with the side of her sneaker.

Pre-party excitement washed over Julie as visions began springing to mind – she’d have to start a Pinterest board later to track her ideas about decorating the garage with fairy lights, artificial twisting vines, and tissue paper flowers. She felt her excitement grow even further when she imagined the outfits her guests might come up with…she wondered if Carrie still had that old pair of fairy wings from when they—

Oh, right. No Carrie. Off-limits.

Sometimes, Julie missed her old friend - the inside jokes they shared, the long evenings on the phone talking endlessly about anything and nothing, the jam sessions at the Wilson's place, the picnics on the beach…but last year, something shifted and everything went wrong. Their perfect little group started to clash more and more, until the fateful day when it all blew up in their faces. Now Carrie sat with her new friends at lunch, and there was always an empty seat at the Julie-Flynn-Willie table.

It would be weird, not having Carrie at her seventeenth, despite how things had ended up between them all.

Still, even though it wasn't exactly how she'd imagined spending her seventeenth just a year prior, she couldn't help but feel the buzz of excitement as she doodled outfit ideas in the margins of her physics workbook during final period that day. She had a great feeling about the party, and there was absolutely nothing that would stop her from enjoying her night with her best friends, Carrie-related tension be damned.

Chapter Text

"I can't believe you left your amp cable out in the rain again, Reggie," Luke grumbled as he rifled through the depths of Los Feliz's music equipment cupboard. Reggie winced as a stack of tambourines toppled over somewhere at the back, followed by a chorus of jingles that would've sounded quite pretty under different circumstances.

"I was practising in the garden!" Reggie replied, defensively - the rainstorm had caught him by surprise, and he was too busy saving his baby (his bass, that is - he'd saved up his allowance for years to buy it) from the downpour. 

Besides, it wasn't like Reggie could get much practice done in his house - they didn't have a garage or a basement. Whenever he tried to practice in his bedroom, he was distracted by his parents' constant arguing or his little brother looking for someone to play with. And of course, Reggie loved playing Jedi Knights with Stevie, but he needed to get some practice outside of school hours!

"Reg," Luke turned to look at him. He was shoving some equipment in the cupboard and forcing the door shut, leaving it to fall on somebody else. "One of these days, you're gonna get yourself electrocuted."

Reggie waved him off, "I've literally been fine this entire time, and-"

"Guys!" Bobby interrupted before Reggie could begin his spiel about outdoor music festivals and rain. "I've found us a drummer!"

"Wait, seriously?" Luke's head snapped up. "Are they any good? Who?"

Bobby unzipped his case as he began setting up for rehearsal, turning the tuning pegs and plucking the strings of his guitar. "His name is Alex, he's new, and we'll be hearing how he sounds in," he checked his watch, "five minutes."

"Wait," Luke stared. "You haven't even heard him play yet?"

Reggie raised his hand as he began to speak, “Um, to be fair Luke, we don’t exactly have potential drummers flocking to our door. Let’s just give him a chance!”

“Exactly, and if he's terrible, Luke will just have to turn him down,” Bobby shrugged with a wide-toothed grin.

Luke’s forehead creased as he folded his arms. “Why do I have to turn him down?!”

Shrugging, Reggie reminded him of a conversation they’d had when they formed the band – “I thought you were the boss, or at least that’s what you said.”

“I was thirteen!” Luke protested, but before the others could argue back, there was a timid knock on the music room door. Luke spun on his heel. “Come in!”

“See?” Reggie tilted his head towards Luke. “He’s the boss!”

****

Alex was sent to wait outside the music room as Sunset Curve decided his fate. The boys had seemed cool so far - Reggie had given him about three hugs, Bobby had cheered him on as he played, and Luke...well, he was pretty intense, which admittedly made the stakes feel scarily high for a high school band. Still, Alex had taken note of the satisfied look on Luke's face as he listened to the audition.

Even though the boys weren't exactly quiet about their approval, Alex had been given strict instructions to wait outside until they'd made a decision. Unfortunately, he had left his jacket next to the drum kit, his phone still in the pocket. The only distraction from his nerves was a collection of posters on the wall opposite where he stood. He learned all about the drama club's upcoming production of The Taming of the Shrew, the book club, and cheer tryouts whilst he waited. The flyers did such a good job at distracting him, that he hadn't noticed that he was no longer alone.

"Hey, hot dog!" The voice made Alex jump as he immediately connected it to Willie, his cheeks burning at the memory of their first meeting. "You lost?"

Alex cleared his throat as he searched for something at least mildly interesting to say. "You know, I really don't like that nickname - it's how I almost died!"

The way that Willie laughed at this, his entire face lighting up as he flashed his teeth, made Alex reconsider banning the nickname - anything that would make Willie laugh like that again was fine by him.

"And no," Alex continued, "I'm not lost. I'm actually waiting to hear if I'm allowed to join Sunset Curve, so..."

Willie's face lit up (as if it could get any brighter). "You're a musician? What do you play?"

"Drums," Alex replied. "I started taking lessons when I was about eight. I refused to take up a sport because, you know, all the other guys on the team were kinda mean to me, so-" Alex cut himself off, shaking his head. "That's not important. Basically, I begged to take music lessons, and my parents figured they didn't have a good reason to say no!"

Willie offered him a small high-five. "Nice! I used to do a lot of theatre; my dad had me in dance training as soon as I could stand up in tap shoes," Willie chuckled, knocking shoulders with Alex; he wasn't used to this much casual physical contact, but between Reggie's apparent love for surprise hugs, and Willie's casual touches, Alex was beginning to find that he liked it. Willie continued: "My friend, Julie, she's crazy talented - seriously, she's probably the best musician at this school, and I'm not just saying that."

"Cool," Alex said, making mental notes of everything Willie said, gathering facts to think about at dinner later. It would be a nice distraction from enforced family time. "I bet you guys have some great jam sessions, huh?"

Willie shrugged, still grinning, "Most of my musical talent comes from a lifetime of summers at theatre camp - not really Julie's style. I don't perform much anymore - it's a pretty time-consuming hobby, and you know how school takes over. I spend most of my free time skating these days."

Alex nodded, impressed. "A skater! You must be pretty good, I don't think I'd last two seconds on a skateboard - no balance."

There was that laugh again, making Alex's chest swell and his stomach flutter. If he had to keep getting himself through entire conversations with Willie...he was done for. 

As Alex contemplated how screwed he was, Willie pulled away from the wall, squinting at the back of his hand. "Hey, man, can you read what this says? I scribbled it on my hand at lunch but I forgot I had P.E., so...dude, this is totally gross, but I kinda sweat it off."

"I-okay," Alex grimaced, examining the blue smudge that Willie had shoved under his nose. "It says something about...apples? I think?"

Willie snapped his fingers, his face flooding with realisation. "Yes! Ham and pineapple for Flynn, thanks hot dog!"

"No probl-"

"Alright, I'd better get going," Willie interrupted, gripping Alex by the shoulder quickly before he started to head off. "Good luck, by the way - I bet you crushed it!"

Alex barely had a chance to say 'goodbye' before Willie had practically sprinted around the corner, out of sight.

As Alex stared at the empty spot where Willie had just been standing, he was quickly torn away from his thoughts as the band's 'boss', Luke, stuck his head around the doorframe.

"You're in," he grinned, patting Alex's shoulder firmly. "Welcome to Sunset Curve, Alex."

Alex's chest was finally relieved of its nervous tension. "I can't wait to play with you guys!" He grinned as Reggie popped his head around too.

"Dudes," he announced himself. "Can we cut this practice early and go to the music supplies store? I can't play bass without...well," he waved his hand in a vague gesture - a strange, wobbly line. He was most likely alluding to his cable.

With an affectionate eye roll, Luke smiled and nodded. "Sure, I needed some new picks, anyway. You coming, Alex?"

Alex was already late home because of his audition, and probably couldn't risk vanishing any longer without telling his parents. And yet...if he told his parents, they'd probably just say no, so...

He could deal with the repercussions later on.

****

If Luke walked along the high street with a little extra bounce in his step that afternoon, well, who could blame him?

Alex was a seriously epic drummer - leagues better than their last guy. Sean had been recommended by their music teacher, only to barely turn up for rehearsals or meetings, and when he did show his face, he spent the whole time complaining about staying after school. He was seriously holding them back, and if Luke had secretly punched the air when he received the text message announcing his departure from the group...well, it was definitely justified.

His band was everything to him - even though they occasionally left important pieces of equipment out in the middle of a downpour.

Reggie was in the process of quizzing the salesperson on their amp cables, pulling out his recently cable-less amp to show her.

The blue-haired, heavily pierced girl (her badge revealed that her name was Sam) examined it for a moment, tapping a few of the keys on the checkout computer and scrolling a while before turning to Reggie with an apologetic shrug.

"Sorry," she turned the screen towards him. "That's an old model - we don't stock the right equipment for those anymore."

"What?" Reggie's face fell, his shoulders sinking and causing the strap of his guitar case to slide down his arm. Alex caught it before the instrument could come crashing to the floor. "But- but I need my amp! Can't I just get a similar plug?"

Sam shook her head. "I wouldn't recommend it, honestly. Your amp's pretty busted, man. It's one wrong move away from malfunctioning and blowing up." Reggie planted his elbows onto the checkout desk, face sinking into his hands as he let out a pitiful groan.

"This is a disaster," he complained. Luke stepped forward to rub circles onto the middle of his back with the palm of his hand. 

"No it's not, Reg," he comforted. "You'll just have to buy a new amp, it's really not the end of the world."

Reggie tilted his head to look at Luke. "So you're not mad at me? Promise?"

Luke chuckled, "Of course, I'm not mad at you. I'm astounded by your refusal to accept that water and electricity don't mix, but-"

"Wait," Alex's eyes widened. "How-"

"I left it out in the rain," Reggie sighed, and Alex's eyes seemed to get even wider as his mouth popped open.

"You- you can't..." he shook his head, and it was his turn to have a little back rub, this time from Bobby.

"Don't worry about it," Bobby said. "We've tried."

"Anyway," Reggie interrupted. "I can't afford a new amp. Not if I want to get one that won't make my bass sound like...like a bowl of Rice Krispies."

"Rise Krispies?" Alex grinned, furrowing his eyebrows with confusion.

Reggie sighed. "You know, snap, crackle, pop?" His incredible way with words and the seriousness with which he said this made Luke's face crack into a huge grin.

"Don't worry, man," he said. "We'll all chip in - right, boys?" He turned to the others, who were already reaching for their bags.

Alex pulled a little pile of notes from his fanny pack, resting them on the cash register. "I've got...thirty dollars," he counted. "I keep it for emergencies and, well, I think this probably counts."

It was Bobby's turn - he scattered a few notes and a couple of coins. "Twenty-five dollars and eighty-five cents. I do dog walking," he shrugged.

Reggie and Luke counted up their balance, and altogether the four of them managed - miraculously - to pull together a grand total of eighty dollars. Well, seventy-nine dollars and eighty-five cents.

"You can get yourself a decent amp for that," Sam said, guiding Reggie towards their stock of amps in the next room. "Feel free to plug your bass in and try some out."

Reggie nodded, running through a few simple riffs and asking for second opinions on the sound quality from his bandmates. After a few attempts at finding an amp that he was satisfied with - one that didn't snap, crackle, or pop - Reggie called Sam back over with a smile for her to help him package it up to take home. Whilst Bobby stood at the checkout with Reggie, popping Luke's picks on top of the amp, Luke turned to Alex.

"You coming for something to eat with us? We still have, like, five dollars left so we can split a food truck pizza and go over some setlists." Luke waggled his eyebrows.

"Setlists? We have a show coming up?" Alex asked, impressed.

Luke shook his head, the tufts of hair sticking out from underneath his beanie shaking with it. "Nope - always good to be ready though, and we're hoping to bag a spot at the masked ball in October. We should be prepared for anything."

Luke knew that he could be sort of...intense about the band. But the way that he saw it, intensity booked gigs.

"I really wish I could, but I should be getting home now - family stuff, you know?" Alex shrugged apologetically, but it didn't take a genius to realise that he would much rather do anything but go back to his family. Luke recognised the expression - he saw it in Reggie's face at the end of every rehearsal, and he even felt it himself after a particularly bad fight with his mom.

Nodding with sympathetic understanding, Luke placed his hand back on Alex's arm. "I get it, man. We'll see you at school tomorrow, right? The only reason I still go is to use the music room during my free period - I'll be there right before lunch." He grinned, hoping to lighten the mood and flip Alex's frown.

Alex chuckled. "Sure, I have a free period then, too - I'll come find you."

"Sure thing," Luke grinned. "See you tomorrow, Alex - and if you ever need to get out of the house, seriously, just text." Luke grabbed a scrap piece of paper from the pocket of his sleeveless hoodie, scribbling his number down in a messy scrawl before pressing it into Alex's palm.

Chapter Text

Flynn had been in the Molina's kitchen for almost fifteen minutes, making her signature mint-choc hot cocoa. This left Julie and Willie alone, sitting on the floor of the studio/garage as Willie braided Julie's hair.

Julie exhaled contentedly, enjoying the slow, gentle way that Willie brushed through her hair as he gathered her curls. It reminded her of how her mom would help her tie up her hair before bed when she was younger, letting her choose the colour of the scrunchie and pressing a goodnight kiss to the top of her head. The smell of hair mousse and the rubber that the bobbles were made of always reminded her of those evenings, of getting ready for school every morning, of the special little clips and ribbons that her mom saved for special occasions. "You're so good at this, Willie - can I do yours next?"

Willie smiled, reaching for the matching navy, constellation-print scrunchies on his wrist. "I'm a genius, what can I say? And yes, but I want space buns." 

"Gotcha," Julie giggled, reaching for a slice of ham and pineapple pizza - it was starting to grow on her, much to her surprise. Maybe this was the year of the 'Julie Renaissance', too.

Once Julie's hair was done - two long french braids- she switched places with Willie. Sliding onto the sofa, she tucked her feet underneath her as Willie shuffled to the floor, giving Julie better access to his head. She reached for her purple hairbrush, working through the tangles in Willie's hair as she began to separate it into smaller sections. 

Julie hummed along to the song playing from Flynn's speaker; she'd selected their collaborative playlist for the night. It was a pretty eclectic mix of their different tastes, but Julie loved flicking through the combination of R&B, alternative, bubblegum pop, and rock music. Willie tapped his fingers against the hard floor of the studio, following the beat - he'd been quiet for the few minutes that Julie had been working on his hair. This wasn't like him, he always had something to say - a question about whatever song they were listening to, a comment about how 'epic' Julie's voice sounded, even as she sang under her breath. But...nothing.

"What's on your mind, Willie?" Julie murmured, quiet as she concentrated on creating an even parting. "You're actually quiet, it's not like you."

She received a soft snort in response."Rude," he replied, but she could hear his smile as he said it. Another moment of quiet fell between them before, finally, Willie decided to share his thoughts. "Julie, do you think you have a type?"

The question surprised Julie, causing her to drop - and lose - the section of hair that she'd been working on. Hairbrush still resting on her lap, she paused, considering Willie's question. "Why the sudden interest? Are you thinking of giving up on our little solidarity pact?" She teased.

"No," Willie sighed, defensively. "I'm just...I'm just being nosy, okay? Isn't this what you're meant to talk about at sleepovers?" 

With a laugh, Julie said, "Fine, I'll play along." She considered for a moment as one song faded into the next. "My type...Can you have a type if you've never even dated?" She questioned.

"Okay, fine, what do you think your dream partner would be like?" Willie reworded his question. "You're not being graded on this, Jules."

She gave his hair a gentle, teasing tug. "Okay, I guess...when I think of like, my dream person, or whatever, I imagine someone creative. They'd probably be really passionate about music, funny - obviously - and...okay, someone sorta cute wouldn't hurt," she winked. "My real dream is to find someone who would want to make music with me, but that's a lot to ask, I know."

Willie raised an eyebrow. "You're aware that you go to a school with a highly competitive music programme, right? I'm sure you could find someone who likes music," he teased.

"Ha." Julie pretended to laugh. "I don't just want to find someone who likes music, I mean someone who really understands why music means so much to me. The only other person I've ever written music with is my mom, so doing that with anyone means like...that's a real connection, Willie. It's such a huge part of who I am and who I want to be," she explained. After her mom died, Julie thought that she'd never sing another note again, never sit behind the piano again. It was coming back to her slowly, and she was getting gradually more comfortable with making music again. Music was the thing that kept her connected to her mom as she began to heal. She didn't know exactly how to convey why this was so important to her vision of a 'dream person' to Willie, so instead she settled with a simple explanation: "I have high standards; it makes this 'no dating' pact even easier for me." She finished with a pleased smile, twisting the first chunk of Willie's hair into a loose but well-structured bun.

"Never apologise for having high standards, Jules," Willie said. 

"What about you? Who's your dream guy?"

He simply shrugged. "I don't know. It was just hypothetical."

"Hypocrite!" Julie laughed. "If I have to play, so do you!" Another shrug from Willie. Julie raised an eyebrow, sceptically. Willie didn't just bring up these topics of conversation - something had to have prompted it. "Could this, by any chance, have something to do with your little chivalry moment in the cafeteria earlier?"

"What? No, no. I guess I'm just thinking about the ball, like, if you wanted to find a date..."

"I don't," Julie replied, firm in her decision. "I know that people - namely Carrie - have a lot to say about our little arrangement, but I actually prefer it this way. It's a great way to ward off unwanted invitations." Julie had felt bad for rejecting Nick when he'd asked her out over the summer - she just didn't like him like that. Not since middle school, anyway. Her high standards and the pact brought her an immense sense of inner peace when it came to the awkward and tumultuous world of high school dating. Plus, if she wasn't worried about dating, she could focus on her studies instead of a girlfriend or a boyfriend. It was pretty much an ideal arrangement.

College would be different. Probably.

It was just...look, she'd seen how hurt Flynn had been by her breakup last year, and after that, the idea of getting too close to someone new...nope. No way. Julie couldn't open herself up to the potential for that much hurt. She planned on guarding her heart and getting through high school (more or less) unscathed.

"Okay," Flynn's voice chirped from the entrance to the garage, "three mugs of cocoa for my BFFs - and one for Carlos, which is why I took so long."

"Oooooh!" Julie wriggled her fingers, making grabby hands at her mug. Flynn always heated the milk to perfection, so it was never too hot to sit comfortably in her hands.

"Your hair looks so nice, Wills," Flynn grinned. "Very Princess Leia chic!"

"Why, thank you!" Willie grinned, blowing on his cocoa. "Julie says we're playing Cluedo after drinks, so prepare to get your butt kicked."

"Don't be so sure, William," Flynn protested. "I'm a pretty good detective!"

"It's true," Julie confirmed. "You can't get anything past Flynn - don't underestimate her ability to wipe the floor with you, Covington."

****

A thick, barely translucent fog clouded Flynn's vision as she wafted her arms through the air, attempting to clear a path. She was still wearing pyjamas and a pair of pink bunny slippers, but she definitely wasn't in Julie's garage anymore - or at Julie's house, for that matter. This place was...old. Older than anywhere she'd ever been before, its floors and walls creaking with every breeze of wind that passed by Flynn.

Was it haunted? Flynn really couldn't deal with ghosts right now, not without the proper equipment - why hadn't she packed her night vision camera?!

The sound of footprints against creaking wooden floors followed Flynn as she walked, but she was still too disoriented to be sure whether they belonged to her or not. The sense of disorientation wasn't helped by the fact that she could barely see through the peculiar haze filling the...corridor? She was certain that it must be a corridor of some sort, after a little bit of feeling about with her hands. The walls were close together, lined with dim candles that smelled of old wax. 

Even though Flynn was completely unaware of where she was, she knew that she had somewhere to be - most importantly, she knew that she was running late.

The corridor seemed to go on forever without a single corner or sign of life, not a door or a window to indicate that there was any way to escape or any world existing outside of the limbo Flynn seemed to be stuck in. Panic began to rise in Flynn's chest as she became convinced that she would never reach her mystery destination, her heart slamming against her ribcage and her stomach feeling uncomfortably hollow as she picked up her pace. Slippers now thumping rapidly against the wooden floors, Flynn's anxiety only worsened, sweat dripping down her face from exertion, from the warmth of the candles that seemed to be burning even brighter and even closer than before. 

Just as she thought she was about to collapse, she almost barrelled face-first into a huge, wide door that must have been at least twice her height. The wood was old and worn, and the edges of the door were softened by age. Reaching for the heavy golden handle, Flynn struggled for a moment to pull the door back. Applying all of her strength, she strained and tugged until, finally, the door came loose, swinging back and almost knocking her to the ground.

The room behind the door couldn't have been part of the same building as the corridor that Flynn had just been in. The dark, dank and creaky room had led her to a huge, dimly lit ballroom filled with people dancing, drinking, and laughing. In the far corner of the room, Flynn spotted Kayla - one of Carrie's friends, who was somehow here too - playing the flute, accompanied by another kid from her school, Bobby's friend Reggie, playing...what was that? It was some kind of tiny guitar, probably closer in size to a ukulele. Whatever it was, it looked old and weird. 

The music was fun and jaunty, the dancers clapping in unison every now and then as they did some sort of choreographed dance. Flynn could tell that they'd probably been practising that for a while, even though she wasn't totally sure why she was here. The whole thing reminded her of those historical romances her mom loved, the ones with dudes with sideburns falling in lakes, or whatever...Flynn didn't really see the appeal. She did enjoy the outfits, though, and was definitely impressed by how everyone at this party had turned out for the occasion.

Suddenly, humiliation washed over Flynn as she realised that she was seriously underdressed, still wearing stripy pink pyjama bottoms and a Winx Club t-shirt. 

Scanning the ballroom, crossing her arms over her t-shirt as if that would make her look less out of place, she was overcome with relief as she spotted some more familiar faces - Willie and Julie, both dressed to the nines as they danced along with the other guests. 

Julie, who was wearing a plum purple, floor-length ballgown, spotted Flynn where she was hovering at the sidelines, eyes widening with recognition.

"Lady Taylor!" She cried, gathering up her skirt as she sped across the ballroom. "You're terribly late! She has been anticipating your arrival - we were beginning to fear you weren't coming!" 

"Huh?" Flynn tilted her head, completely baffled. Why was Julie talking all...fancy?

Well, to be fair, she had always admired her friend's ability to commit to a bit. 

"You look absolutely beautiful, by the way," Julie smiled, pressing a quick kiss to both of her cheeks. That was new. Also...okay, these were Flynn's favourite pyjamas, but-

Oh! Somehow, between the door and the dancefloor, Flynn's pyjamas had been replaced by a gown not dissimilar to Julie's, only hers was a deep aquamarine colour, embroidered with delicate, floral patterns and laced on top of an off-white undershirt with long, loose sleeves. Her braided hair had been styled half-up, half-down, a small bun on the back of her head tied with a ribbon in the same shade as her dress. Dangling from her ears were a pair of delicate, pearl earrings to match Julie's.

It wasn't her usual style, but damn! She cleaned up pretty nicely!

"As do you, uh, Lady Molina," Flynn replied, deciding that she may as well try her hand at the fancy talk - she was...rising to the occasion! 

"Make haste!" Julie linked arms with Flynn, leading her across the room, "Lady Wilson has been expecting you!"

Who?! Flynn hoped that she didn't look as outraged as she felt - what was this? Some sort of joke?

"What the-"

"You must meet her on the balcony," Julie continued in an excited whisper. "She does not like to be kept waiting!"

Huh, so alternate universe Carrie was still impatient as ever - good to know. At least some things were familiar to Flynn. 

Still, for some reason, Flynn decided that she could trust Julie in any reality, and began making her way towards where Julie had pointed. 

This door was, thankfully, already open, and led Flynn out into the cool, night air. She couldn't have been in Los Angeles anymore, she observed, as the usual sounds of traffic that usually disturbed the quiet had been replaced by the melodic singing of birds, and the rustling of trees in the breeze.

"I was beginning to think that you would not come," a breathless whisper startled Flynn. She spun on her heel to find a familiar girl in a floor-length, baby pink gown, her blonde curls piled on top of her head, with two tendrils left to fall loose against her cheeks. "I thought that you may have changed your mind."

Flynn shook her head, trying to decide whether or not it was a good idea to step towards Carrie. What if she'd invited her here for a face-off?! 

And yet, after observing the crowds behind the open doors, and alternate universe Carrie's desire to meet in secret, Flynn slowly walked towards her. She barely made it halfway there before Carrie lunged forward, enveloping her in a tight embrace.

"Oh, Flynn," she whispered. "I thought that we might never see one another again!"

"Um...Why?" Flynn asked, increasingly curious about the reality that she'd been transported into.

“Surely you must understand!” Carrie cried, pulling away from the embrace but leaving her hands to rest on Flynn’s shoulders. “Our families would never approve!”

“Of course,” Flynn sighed, overcome by sudden despair and understanding, as though Carrie had triggered a memory. “Their feud threatens to tear us apart, but they cannot keep us from seeing one another!”

Okay...where did that come from? Something was seriously up! She must've said the right thing though, judging from Carrie's reaction. She nodded, smiling tearfully as Flynn tucked one of the loose curls behind her ear – what? She may as well commit!

“I shall come to your balcony tonight,” Carrie promised. “Wait for me at your window.”

Flynn gasped in protest, “But if they find you there, who knows what they might—”

“They will not keep us apart, Lady Taylor,” Carrie promised, trailing her hands down Flynn’s arms to grip her wrists gently. “They cannot separate us with their walls, they cannot stop me from loving you”

Flynn pressed her forehead against Carrie’s, the gentle music of the ball faint but audible from outside. The two girls swayed gently to the soft melody being played, finding a gentle rhythm as they fell into step with one another, eyes closed as they enjoyed the peace of the night.

Suddenly, just as Flynn leant forward to press a kiss to Carrie's lips, her eyes shot open with a jolt as she found herself submerged in darkness once again, her chest heaving with shallow breaths as she was overcome with that same feeling of disorientation from the corridor.

Then, the movement of distant traffic pulled Flynn out of her confused daze. The sound of soft breathing, the glow of a string of fairy lights, and the rustle of a sleeping bag reminded her of where she actually was. She wasn't dancing in a ballroom in some...ambiguously historical period. She was in the Molina's garage with Julie and Willie, surrounded by crumpled quilts, bottles of nail polish, and a stack of assignments that they'd been working on before bed.

Ah, she registered the open book beside her pillow, I guess that explains a lot. Flynn picked up the copy of Romeo and Juliet that she'd been annotating after their introductory lesson the previous morning. It was open on Act 1, Scene 5, and Flynn seemed to have drifted off in the middle of reading.

The weird ballroom-related dream she'd had was starting to make a whole lot more sense.

But it didn't explain why Carrie was there! So, Flynn had to suffer her presence at school, and now in her weird, homework-inspired dream realities, too?!

Flynn huffed a quiet yet frustrated breath as she slumped back down into her sleeping bag, turning to bury her face into her pillow. If she could've been sure that it wouldn't wake Julie and Willie, she would've screamed into it.

Instead, she simply released another irritated exhale before attempting to get some much-needed (preferably uninterrupted) rest.

Chapter Text

Flynn's first class on Tuesday morning was art. This class had always been her safe space, her refuge, her creative outlet, and the ideal place for a sleep-deprived Flynn to start her morning.

So why was the first thing that she noticed when she entered the art room that familiar, sickly sweet body spray, that grating giggle that haunted her thoughts - and, apparently, her dreams?

Why was this happening to her?!

And of course, the only thing that could make things worse...the only free seat was at that table, right opposite Carrie. Flynn knew the art teacher, Mrs. Jeffries, too well to think that she might reshuffle the seating plan. Where you sat on the first day was final for the rest of the year.

Begrudgingly, Flynn slid her bag underneath the stool and climbed up to her seat before pretending to take an interest in lining up the row of pencils left for her by Mrs. Jeffries. She wondered whether Carrie was going to address her presence, either with a side-eyed glance or a snide remark. However, she wouldn't take the risk of glancing in her direction to find out.

She knew that if she looked at Carrie for even a second, she would immediately be reminded of that super weird dream she'd had last night. The warmth of candlelight, the singing of the birds, and Carrie's hands...

Look, Flynn knew how dreams worked, okay? Random people would just...appear in them sometimes. It didn't have to mean anything, even though it had left her feeling seriously spooked ever since. All it actually meant was that her brain needed a face, and picked one at random from her memories! 

Unfortunately, Flynn's brain had decided to substitute in Carrie Wilson as her Romeo last night. At least she knew that, in real life, Carrie wouldn't ever actually climb over her balcony because she had a serious fear of heights. 

Still, it wasn't a comfort to Flynn that she was now barely half a metre away from Carrie, who she'd been planning to avoid until they graduated and could go their separate ways forever.

This year was going to be hell.

"Did you have a good summer, Flynn?" Flynn was snapped out of her attempts to vanish into thin air by Nick, who was apparently the person sitting next to Carrie - she had been too scared to look up and find out who else was at her table.

"Uh, yeah!" She smiled, hoping that it didn't look quite as pained as it felt, her cheeks stiff. "I practically lived at the Molina's, as usual."

"Nice!" Nick grinned. "Mr. Molina makes the best lemonade, right?"

Flynn nodded, feeling some (just some) of the tension rolling off her shoulders. "The greatest - I'm literally obsessed with Ray Molina, I swear."

As Nick chuckled, Carrie's lips curled into a smirk. "Well, that's not weird at all!" she exclaimed in that pseudo-saccharine tone that she reserved for people that she really didn't like, and didn't care if they knew it.

Flynn felt her eyelid twitch and her nostrils flare as she attempted not to rise to Carrie's taunts - what was her problem? That was a seriously complex question, of course, and Flynn wasn't sure she'd ever find an answer. She'd tried.

"Do you not get hugged enough?" Flynn asked, keeping her voice level as she turned to Carrie, who was twirling a long strand of curled hair around her finger. "Is that what this is? Because you seem like you could really use a hug."

Carrie scoffed, "Wow, Flynn! That was a really good one! I bet you've been practising that comeback in the mirror all week!" 

"No, actually," Flynn countered. "Personally, I prefer to spend my time on something more constructive than being evil, like, you know - having friends, having hobbies, etcetera."

Rolling her eyes, Carrie snapped, "Does the 'etcetera' mean that you couldn't come up with anything else? Gosh, Flynn, you're life must be so fulfilling!" Her words were sour and made Flynn's cheeks grow hotter and hotter with rage.

Flynn opened her mouth, ready to snap back with something witty and conversation-halting, but Nick beat her to it. "Right! In the interest of escaping whatever this is," he pulled himself up from his stool. "I'm gonna go and get our sketchbooks." He did a quick headcount of their table before heading to the front of the room, where Mrs. Jeffries was passing out sketchbooks to the other students.

After listening to the details of their first assignment - a self-portrait exploring their identity - Flynn was relieved to finally be allowed to stick in her earbuds, drowning out whatever Carrie was bragging about to her friend, Kayla. Art was the only class where students were allowed to listen to music, and Flynn took this as the ideal escape from getting distracted by Carrie. 

Increasing the volume of her earphones, Flynn started sketching out ideas for her portrait, experimenting with different compositions in her sketchbook before she would move onto one of the canvases that the teacher had stacked up in the supplies cupboard.

They did the 'identity' project at the start of every year; even though it sometimes felt as though Mrs. Jeffries was running out of ideas, Flynn enjoyed being able to compare her previous self-portraits. And, considering this was the year of the Flynn Renaissance, she was determined to make it her best yet.

As she flicked through her phone, searching for reference pictures of herself, she made a note in the corner of her sketchbook to stop off at the art store at the weekend. She wanted paints - bright, neon shades that the school didn't provide. If Flynn was going to represent herself, she needed it to be bright, bold, and impossible to miss in a sea of portraits.

As the excitement of all of her ideas began to fill an entire page of her sketchbook with doodles of sections of sheet music, her favourite patterns, colours, and symbols representing her best friends, she accidentally found her eyes drifting over to Carrie's page.

The first sketch of Carrie's portrait was rough, just a few drawings of her face in the neat boxes that she had split her page into. 

Flynn snuck a quick glance at Carrie herself, who was occupied with chewing at her bottom lip, eyebrows creased in concentration as she tapped the table with the rubber end of her pencil. It seemed that she was struggling with the assignment, and a hidden part of Flynn wanted to reach over the table to get her attention, to give her some ideas.

Flynn knew how she would represent Carrie; she would place her face front and centre, smiling and confident in shades of pink and baby blues. And maybe she'd-

Nothing. Never mind, Flynn shook her head to get rid of the thoughts that had attempted to creep in - that dream had seriously messed with her head.

Flynn reminded herself that, actually, she didn't know Carrie as well as she had once thought. This wasn't the Carrie that hosted movie nights and passed around bowls of microwave popcorn, letting Flynn do her eyeshadow and letting Julie borrow her clothes for parties, cheering on Willie at skateboarding competitions. This was the Carrie who was fuelled by spite and making others feel small, pushing away her old friends with harsh words and finding herself a brand spanking new, less 'weird' circle of friends. 

Carrie had made her choice, and Flynn felt her lips curve into a frown as she decided - to hell with it, she can struggle with her assignment. Why should I care?

"Can I help you?" Carrie snapped her head up, eyes burning into Flynn, who hadn't noticed that she was still staring.

"Huh?" Flynn practically jumped up from her stool, scrambling for the pencil that she'd put down at some point without realising. "No, just...can I borrow your sharpener, please?"

Despite the irritated roll of her eyes, Carrie obliged, producing a clear plastic pink sharpener from her pencil case. "Bring your own, next time," she snapped, but Flynn was distracted. Julie had bought her that pencil case from their favourite stationary shop in freshman year; Flynn was surprised that she still used it, seeing as it was covered with glitter, butterflies, and sparkly pink letters spelling out 'CARRIE' that she and Julie had spent the night before Carrie's birthday glueing to the fabric.

Why had she kept the pencil case? Flynn knew for a fact that if Carrie asked, her rockstar dad would just get her a new one - one that wasn't a reminder of the people she'd had no trouble ditching for no reason.

At first, Flynn felt frustrated that it was easier for Carrie to drop an entire friend group than it was for her to replace a pencil case. But when she thought about it...maybe there was a part of Carrie that missed them...that missed Flynn.

Or, Flynn considered a more likely option, Carrie had just forgotten that it was a gift from them and hadn’t gotten around to replacing her pencil case.

This was the theory that Julie agreed with when Flynn discussed it with her in the library during their free period before lunch.

"I mean, I still use stuff that Carrie got me," Julie said with a shrug. "Those butterfly earrings were too cute to throw away!"

Flynn nodded. That was a fair point - "Plus, I suppose you have to be environmentally conscious, even if you're going through a breakup."

Julie glanced at Flynn cautiously. "So...we're finally at the stage where we can use the 'B' word, now?"

"What does that mean?" Flynn whispered, having received a sharp warning glare from the librarian. She smiled apologetically, pulling a textbook between them and pointing at the middle of the page so as to pretend that she was helping Julie with an imaginary maths problem. "Other than the fact that Carrie's being a total b-"

"It means," Julie interrupted, also fixing her eyes on the book as she picked up on what Flynn was doing, "that you've been very hesitant to talk about Carrie like she's your ex-girlfriend, not just our ex-friend."

Shrugging, Flynn started highlighting random sections of her notes, searching for distraction in the neon pens. "Because she did ditch us both when we broke up, so we're kind of going through the same-"

"She was your first girlfriend, Flynn," Julie whispered, patting her arm gently. "It's almost been a year and you still can't be in a room with her - are you sure you're handling this as well as you want us to believe?"

Flynn scrunched her brows in confusion. "What have I done to try and convince you that I'm handling this well, exactly? I literally swore off of dating for the rest of high school."

"I guess..." Julie paused to think for a moment. "I just think...I don't know."

"What?" Flynn encouraged her friend to continue, interested in any advice that she might have about her love life. Her failed attempt at a love life, that is.

"Maybe...maybe you could try dating again!" Julie suggested, and Flynn's expression and body language immediately became resistant. "Come on, Flynn! There has to be one girl at school that you're interested in!"

There was. Just one. And Flynn was determined to continue disliking her. "Nope." Flynn shook her head before pulling Julie's attention back to the textbook as the librarian's gaze fell on their table again. "Besides, you came up with the terms of the pact - I'm not interested in any romancing until you and Willie have dates to the masked ball."

"But I don't really want a date to the-"

"Well, that settles it then!" Flynn grinned, just as the bell rang for lunch and the other students in the library began to pack their bags to leave.

****

After lunch, Julie found a perfect opportunity to get Willie alone for scheming purposes - yes, the situation had finally reached scheming levels of dire. Their only class together was English and, because someone out there was looking out for Julie, there were two free seats right next to one another, right at the back of the classroom.

"Nice one," Willie grinned, inviting Julie for a fist bump. "I'm gonna be a great English buddy - I've watched Romeo and Juliet like, ten times with my dad."

Julie raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Which one?"

"1996, obviously," Willie answered as he scribbled his name on the front of his exercise book. "You know, the one where Romeo has that cute 90s boyband hair? It's a classic!"

"Correct answer," Julie grinned. They'd been paired up to produce a presentation about tragedy, and because the due date was an entire week away, Julie didn't feel too bad about redirecting the conversation."We need to talk. About Flynn."

"What about her?" Willed asked, forehead creasing as he flicked through a heavily annotated copy of Macbeth. "Is everything okay?"

Julie sighed as she pushed her glasses back up her nose. "I think it's pretty clear that she's still completely hung up on Carrie, right? Like, I can't be the only one that's noticed."

"I mean..." Willie trailed off, his eyes focusing on some distant spot as he considered this. "I supposed she still brings her up a lot," he shrugged.

"Dude," Julie laughed, "she spent all of our study session theorising about why she kept the pencil case we gave her, why she looked so confused in art class, what her deal is with that new guy-"

"Alex?" Julie didn't miss the way that Willie perked up once he realised who Julie was referring to.

"You like him, huh?" she teased, grinning as she squeezed his cheek playfully. "Aw! Willie has a cru-ush!" She dragged the final syllable out in a sing-song voice as Willie rolled his eyes.

"Shh," he swatted her hand away, playfully. "I don't...not like him." Willie was clearly fighting very determinedly against the grin that was twitching at the corners of his mouth, the appearance of his dimples betraying him. "We...we did kind of text all night yesterday, though, when you and Flynn were asleep."

"Oh my gosh, Willie!" Julie was elated - this was fantastic! "You do realise how perfect this is, right?"

Willie raised a sceptical eyebrow. "I'm not following."

"It's so obvious that Flynn still has feelings for Carrie," Julie started. 

"But," Willie followed up, "does Carrie still have feelings for Flynn?" 

"Of course," Julie affirmed. "How could she not? Flynn's the best - and don't pretend you didn't see Carrie stealing glances at lunch yesterday."

"I...I guess," Willie shrugged, even though Julie knew that he must've caught Carrie's eyes a few times before she suddenly became very interested in her dinner plate. "But how are we supposed to nudge two stubborn girls together when they're determined to despise one another? It's not like Flynn will just...fall into Carrie's arms."

"Maybe not, but," Julie's eyes twinkled, "I'm sure we can pull a few strings, right?"

"And then there's the pact," Willie reminded her as if she hadn't considered that. "Even if...whatever you're plotting works out, Flynn would never break her word. If all three of us don't-"

"Exactly, William," Julie said with a smirk. "Exactly."

"I don't like that tone, Julie," Willie said, slowly and suspiciously, his class notes already lying forgotten on his desk. "Tell me more."

"Look," Julie began, "all we need to do is a little...light pushing. You know, steer them in the right direction!"

"Are you suggesting that we, what, lock them in a room together?" Willie managed to look both horrified and impressed as Julie shook her head with frustration.

"No, Willie, I said light pushing! Not that we were gonna kidnap them!" Julie did her best to keep the volume of her voice somewhere close to a whisper, acknowledging how suspicious the conversation would've sounded to anyone in earshot. "We just...we need to convince them both that the other is totally head over heels for them; it's, like, 99.99% confirmed that it's probably true!"

"Those odds sound really convincing, Jules," Willie teased. "You sound real confident."

"Are you gonna tell me I'm wrong?" Julie asked, eyebrow raised. She took Willie's subsequent silence as confirmation that, no, he wasn't. "Great! You're on Flynn duty - tomorrow, I need you to...manufacture a conversation about her and Carrie with someone while she's listening. I'll work out some details and text you tonight, okay?"

"How am I gonna manufacture a-"

"Aren't you literally always looking for some excuse to hang out with Alex? You know, the guy who Carrie is in charge of looking after for his first week?" Julie reminded him, the plan coming together clearly in her mind. 

Willie's expression became troubled as he worried his bottom lip between his teeth. "Are you sure we should drag Alex into this? Just because we like pulling off schemes, doesn't mean-"

"If we pull this off," Julie reminded him, "you might get to take Alex to the Halloween ball, right? He obviously likes you."

A moment of quiet fell between them until, finally, Julie practically heard the final piece of the puzzle click into Willie's mind, his grin assuming its usual position. "Okay, Molina. Let's do this."

END OF ACT ONE

Chapter Text

Willie: how do u feel abt halloween? 

Alex smiled as he glanced at his phone underneath the dinner table, happy for a distraction from his dad's latest rant about whatever mildly inconvenient thing had happened at work earlier. 

He'd almost slept through his alarm that morning, exhausted from his hours-long text conversation with Willie last night; he'd learned that Willie was adopted when he was eight, he loved salted caramel ice cream, and that he used to want to be on Broadway. And, yes, Alex had demanded to see videos of him performing, winning him some old home videos of a much younger Willie stealing the show as Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

Honestly, the sleep deprivation was only partially due to the actual texting. The fact that Alex couldn't stop the constantly quickening pace of his heartbeat also had something to do with it. The fact that, occasionally, his chest would swell as he failed to bite back uncontainable grins. It was very distracting and didn't make it easy for him to drift off.

It also didn't make it easy for him to keep his cool at the dinner table in front of his parents.

Using one hand to scoop up mashed potatoes with his fork, he used the other to type, his phone resting on his lap with the brightness turned all the way down.

Alex: yeag1 i lcow hsllowen!1!

Willie: ?? lol??

It wasn't easy to type, trying to look like you weren't.

"I need to use the bathroom," Alex announced, pulling his chair out from under the table and heading upstairs before his parents could protest.

Alex: sorry! I meant to say - yeah! I love halloween!!!

Willie: lol cool! it's like gay christmas, right?

Alex: well, considering I'm gay and don't like christmas - yeah, sure, I'll take that

Willie: do u not celebrate?

Alex: my family celebrate, I just don't enjoy it

Alex: because I don't like hanging with my family

Willie: oh rlly?

Alex: yup, avoiding them right now actually - dinner time :D

Willie: where r u hiding?

Alex blushed, wondering whether he should lie and say he'd escaped to his room, or admit that he was currently sitting cross-legged on the closed toilet lid.

Willie: ur in the bathroom then :)

Alex: ...maybe

It felt like a perfect time to change the subject.

Alex: what are you up to?

Willie: @ the skatepark - want 2 join?

He really wanted to join. He typed up a quick text to Willie, promising that he'd be there as soon as he could finish his dinner and his chores, and get out of the house before his parents could find a reason to keep him in the house.

After cleaning the dishes, he poked his head into his mom's office. She was in the process of helping his sister find cheap plane tickets for her upcoming visit, showing no signs that she'd noticed him opening the door. "Hey, mom. I'm going to meet up with one of my friends from school - is that okay?"

His mom pushed her glasses up her nose, glancing up from her computer briefly. "Which friend?"

He mentally went through the list of friends he'd mentioned to his mom so far. The entire Sunset Curve crew was completely off-limits; his parents always caused a fuss and acted all weird every time he mentioned meeting up one-on-one with another guy. He should've just said a group of friends, but if he switched his story now, he'd invite suspicion and his plan would be foiled. Not that his mom would approve of the boys anyway, regardless of the fact that Reggie, Luke, and Bobby were part of the reason school was bearable at the moment. So, that left him with-

"Carrie. Remember I mentioned her? She wants to show me her CD collection." It was the perfect lie - Alex was the kind of kid who would travel across town to flick through a CD rack, and his mom could convince herself that he would be out flirting coyly with Carrie, holding hands over...milkshakes, or whatever.

"Hm," his mom made that noise that always confused him. What did it even mean? Was it a yes? A no? An 'I don't care'? Finally, after giving Alex plenty of overthinking time, she decided to make herself clear. "Fine, I suppose so. But you need to be back by ten."

"Eleven?" Alex tried. It was risky, considering he'd been about an hour and a half later back from school yesterday than he was supposed to be, but he thought maybe his mom would be too distracted by her visions of him marrying Carrie and making tiny Wilson-Mercer babies that she'd be a little more lenient.

"Hm." She did it again. "Ten."

Well, at least he got to go out.

She didn't even say 'goodbye' when Alex thanked her and waved as he left the office. He couldn't even pretend to be bothered by it; he was used to that by now.

As he pulled on his new hoodie - white with pink cherry blossoms embroidered on the chest - he typed a quick, one-handed message to Willie.

Alex: omw!!

Willie: c u soon, hot dog xx

Yes, he was going to read into those final two characters.

****

Willie pushed down on the tail of his skateboard with his foot, slowing to a halt as he spotted a familiar figure slipping through the gates surrounding the skatepark. Under the golden light of the setting sun, Alex seemed to glow as he lifted his arm to wave. 

"Hey!" he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth as he made his way towards Willie. "Sorry it took so long, I had to do the dishes before I could persuade my mom to let me come. But I guess she must be in a decent mood with me today!" Alex chuckled, but Willie felt something pull at his stomach, an ache of discomfort and concern.

"Are...are your parents super strict?" Willie asked, undoing the straps of his helmet to remove it. He ran a hand through his long hair, inviting Alex to sit next to him on a nearby bench.

Alex shrugged. "I- I don't really know. Like, they're not exactly cuddly, but-" 

Willie waited for a conclusion to the 'but'. It never came. He wanted to ask more, to make sure Alex was okay, but he didn't know if they were there yet. He didn't want to scare him off. "How long do you have?" Willie asked. "Like, when do you need to get home?"

"My curfew's ten," Alex explained. Willie checked the time on his phone lock screen - 19:26. They had time.

"Fantastic! We'd better get started, then," Willie grinned, standing up after barely a minute of sitting down. He held out a hand, inviting Alex to be pulled up from the bench. Alex accepted his hand without hesitation. "Have you ever skated before?"

"Well," Alex considered. "I used to go ice skating every December with my family. They made me and my big sister wear matching hats, scarves, and gloves."

"Adorable!" Willie laughed, imagining Alex all bundled up in knitwear, his eyes poking out from behind a thick scarf. "Why'd you stop?" he asked, teasingly. "Did you fall over too many times?"

"Ha ha," Alex pretended to laugh. "I was actually pretty graceful - I'm a good dancer, y'know?"

"Seriously?" Willie was delighted to hear this. "I used to do tap, jazz, ballroom...basically anything that my dad could find that would help me with musical theatre."

"You did dance lessons?" Alex smiled, and Willie could tell that he wasn't making fun of him. "I always wanted to, but..."

Another 'but' that was left unfinished. "So, you did ice dancing?" Willie asked, pulling Alex out of his momentary trance.

"Not exactly," Alex shook his head. "I would just...I just held onto the bar on the side and sort of... drifted along to the music. But I loved it! I always thought that if I'd had lessons...but anyway, my parents stopped taking me a few years back."

"Why?"

Alex shrugged. "They don't do a whole lot with me anymore. They're pretty pissed with me, most of the time. They aren't big fans of the whole...'me being gay' thing."

Willie's heart dropped into his stomach. He and his dad clashed about a lot of things, as most teenagers do with their parents. They rarely saw eye to eye, and Willie's dad could drive him nuts...but Willie had never felt unsafe being himself at his house. 

"Oh." Willie rested a hand at the centre of Alex's back, rubbing a small circle with his thumb. "I'm sorry." 

With another shrug, Alex turned to face Willie, barely an inch between their noses. "It's no big deal. I'm lucky, I guess - it could be a lot worse." That didn't comfort Willie - 'could be worse' didn't mean 'good.' "Anyway, skating?" Alex reminded Willie of his original question, and he forced a grin. He could tell that Alex didn't want to talk about this right now.

"Right!" Willie placed his skateboard back on the ground, handing the helmet to Alex. "Put this on."

"Excuse me?" Alex raised an eyebrow, sceptically.

"I'm teaching you to skate!" Willie declared happily as he steadied the board, taking Alex's hand again to help him up.

"You know," Alex started, staring at Willie's outstretched hand. "I'm honestly not thrilled about the idea of standing on something with tiny little wheels. My parents won't be happy if I go home with a broken leg, you know?"

Willie laughed, taking Alex's hand anyway. "You can trust me, I promise! You're not gonna break your leg, because I'm not letting go of your hand, okay?"

With an exaggerated sigh, Alex finally gave in, tightening his grip on Willie's hand. It was possibly a little too tight for comfort, but Willie didn't mind that much. Who needed circulation, anyway? "Fine."

Willie liked the feel of Alex's hand in his. Little jolts of electricity tingled in his fingers as Alex gripped, focusing his attention on trying not to fall flat on his face. They eventually found a steady rhythm, the board moving slowly across the concrete as Willie held Alex's hand, keeping him successfully upright as he whispered words of encouragement.

Willie found himself begging the sun to stop setting as the hours crawled and their time together came to an end, waving as Alex walked away backwards, not turning away from Willie until he reached the edge of the park.

****

Julie was sitting on her bed, nursing a glass of homemade lemonade as she considered her options, one of her mom's old vinyl records crackling in the background. It was one of her favourites when she was younger; she'd spent so much of her childhood spinning around the living room with a hairbrush microphone, singing 'I Love Rock 'N' Roll' while her parents cheered as though they were in a packed stadium. The song was an unlikely source of comfort as she attempted to work through her tricky dilemma - when her parents had cheered her on then, she'd felt as though she could do anything. 

Unfortunately, Julie felt that it wouldn't be as easy to execute this plot as it was to get a cheer out of her parents. Julie had never been on one date, and now she was trying to orchestrate three.

Well, at least she had hope that Willie would be able to sort himself out. As she sat there, chewing on ice cubes to stop her from grinding her teeth, Willie was with Alex at the skate park. From what she could tell, he wouldn't have much trouble securing a date to the ball. And she was pretty sure that Flynn would thank her one day for helping her to get back with Carrie. Probably.

However, when it came to finding herself a date? Well...that was a little more complicated. Julie wasn't sure if there was anyone at school that she really liked. Did she really have time to just...wait for the perfect person to fall out of the sky? 

"You've got exactly two months, universe," she whispered into the air, hoping that someone might hear her from the great beyond. "Help a girl out?"

Sure, she'd had a crush on Nick in middle school - but that was middle school! And, as great company as Nick was, knowing that he had feelings for her and that she'd already rejected him just made it seem cruel, no matter how much fun he would be to hang out with for one evening.

Julie had two months (technically less) to find someone who she liked enough to go to a dance with; she didn't have to date them, they just had to get along well enough to spend Halloween together.

And yet...a part of Julie had hoped for something more romantic than that. Halloween was her favourite holiday - she'd made the ball the exception for a reason. She'd dedicated most of her Octobers to constructing the perfect costume with her mom, composing 'spooky' songs on the piano to perform for her family, and taking Carlos trick or treating. He always went as a bedsheet ghost, and she would dig through her mom's old clothes to come up with something completely new each year.

So, sure, maybe she liked the idea of taking a real date to the masked ball. Maybe she liked the idea of picking out a matching costume with someone, dancing to all of the cheesy music that they'd play with a date who was willing to learn all of her favourite silly moves. Even though she was mostly doing this for Willie and Flynn in the name of love or whatever, she couldn't shake off the part of her that wanted that romantic experience for herself, too. Sue her!

But who? It was hard to fulfil a romantic ideal when you couldn't think of a second participant - that was pretty important, she figured.

She was not willing to compromise her standards, even if her main goal was to reunite Flarrie (that's what she'd taken to calling them in her head and, yes, she was aware of how cheesy it was).

Who told her that this pact would be a good idea?!

Ah, right.

Look, not everyone makes the best choices when they're fifteen and willing to defend a friend, whatever the cost. It had seemed like a genuinely good idea at the time!

But that was before she’d had to sit through an entire year of antagonistic yearning between Flynn and Carrie. Before Willie met a guy that he seemed to genuinely, really like.

The last song on Julie’s record ended, the final crackles fading out as the needle lifted itself back to its stand, leaving her in the silence of her bedroom. Leaving her alone with her thoughts.

She’d managed to sound fairly confident earlier when she’d been trying to convince Willie to get involved with her hijinks – it seemed like a good plan to her, she’d seen it work just fine in a movie once! There were simply…other complications that troubled her.

At least she could be certain about one thing – Flynn still missed Carrie, and the feeling had to be mutual.

****

"Julie's birthday's coming up soon, right?" Trevor asked Carrie over his protein shake, still jogging on the spot after his usual evening run. "She having a party or something?"

Carrie glanced up at her dad without even moving her head. "Are you going somewhere with this, Dad?"

He shrugged as he wiped off his forehead on a little towel. "Making conversation."

"Yeah, well," Carrie scrolled through her phone as she spoke, pretending to be engrossed in some article; really, she was just flicking up and down her contacts list. "I'm not interested in having any conversations about Julie, got it?"

"What about Flynn?" he asked - why did he have to choose today to be way too invested in her social life? Honestly, it wasn't too out of the ordinary for him; he'd taken being an 'ally dad' super seriously ever since Carrie had come out. She suspected that he was trying to communicate that she was safe to talk about crushes and dates with him. However, like most teenagers, Carrie didn't want her dad sticking his nose into her love life, and especially not about this. 

"What about Flynn?" Carried repeated through gritted teeth, almost daring her dad to keep going. 

Trevor raised his hands as if in surrender. "Nothing, she was just...she was a good kid, I miss having her around the house. You seemed happy with-"

"Begging you to end this conversation, Dad," Carrie groaned. With every passing moment, she seriously considered just packing up and moving in with her aunt and uncle - yes, even if that meant living with Bobby. "I have to spend five days a week at school with her, so can I at least exist in my own house without hearing her name?"

"Definitely not in your good books anymore, huh?" Trevor checked one last time. "'Cause that would kind of be a shame, considering-"

"Not in any of my books, Dad. None of them. The library is closed for business." As she made her way towards the stairs, Trevor, refusing to take the hint, kept going. 

"C'mon, Carrie," he chuckled. "I'm just trying to offer some fatherly advice!"

"About my love life? Yeah, I think I'd rather chew sand, thanks." Carrie took this as her cue to push herself up off the couch to hide out in her room.

"I'm just saying, if you have a girlfriend, she's more than welcome to-"

"Yes, Dad!" Carrie forced herself to smile. “But please, stop bringing up Flynn, okay? Not gonna happen. Ever.”

He really had to chill with the Flynn stuff – Flynn had helped Carrie come out to her dad when she was fourteen, and ever since, he’d been convinced that she and Flynn were like…meant to be, or something.

Why was the universe constantly shoving her towards Flynn Taylor?

Well, her dad and her school timetable. Maybe it wasn’t the universe’s fault that they just happened to go to the same school, but someone had to be blamed for the fact that of all the art slots, they just had to be in the same one. And that the only empty seat was in Carrie’s direct line of vision.

The library was anything but closed. Carrie couldn't get away from Flynn, and it made her want to slam her head into a wall.

She needed a distraction. Immediately. She pulled out her phone, tapping out a quick text to Alex, nails clicking against her phone screen.

Carrie: are you busy? NEED to avoid my dad for the next week, can I come over?

Alex's reply came through quickly, and Carrie groaned when she read it.

Alex: I'm out atm, sorry! is everything okay??

Carrie: yeah, dad's just being embarrassing. why do parents have to stick their noses into our business all the time?!

Alex: idk, mine don't

Alex: lol

Carrie read Alex's message a few times, not quite sure what to make of the hastily sent second message.

Alex: btw, if anyone asks, I was w/ you tonight :)

Carrie: ????

Carrie: hello?? elaborate?? 

Carrie: if I'm lying for you, I need details!!!!

So, Carrie couldn't even gather some seriously juicy gossip as a distraction from her dad-related woes! What was up today?

Finding herself with nothing better to do, and needing some way to take her mind off Flynn, she pulled out her desk chair and took her sketchbook from her school bag. 

This art project was such a waste of time - they did it every year, and it didn't get any more inspired. Carrie suspected that Mrs Jeffries just didn't want to think of something new every September. 

It was ridiculous. Carrie didn't need to do an art project to know who he was - she was popular, she was successful, and she was surrounded by people who obviously thought she was something special.

And she was. She worked hard, she pushed herself to her limits, and yet...

And yet. 

These days, it felt like Carrie's life was dedicated to proving to Flynn just how much she didn't care about her. Coming up with a snide remark to make across the table, just to remind Flynn how much Carrie didn't like her.

Or maybe Carrie was actually just dedicated to proving those things to herself.

No. Carrie shook her head, scolding herself for that thought, that sliver of doubt creeping to the front of her mind.

Unzipping her pencil case, she took out a graphite drawing pencil. Maybe being in her room would clear her head, help her to concentrate on the task without having to focus on keeping her cool at school. As she pressed the pencil against the paper though, she quickly realised that it had become seriously blunt - blunt to the point of being unusable. 

She tugged at the velcro on the side of the pencil case, rifling around for her sharpener. There were at least three years' worth of pencil shavings in there, scratching at Carrie's fingers as she felt around. No luck, though. She must've left it on her desk, or Flynn must've accidentally packed it away with her own art supplies after she borrowed it.

So, she wouldn't be working on her portrait today then. Whatever - it was a stupid project anyway.

As Carrie went to close up the pencil case, choosing to work on a physics assignment instead, the zipper became stuck. She really needed to replace this old thing - the zipper was broken, barely useable, and always getting caught in the middle of class. 

But she couldn't just throw it away - it wouldn't be right because...well, it just wouldn't.

As Carrie investigated the broken zip, she noticed that something was caught between the teeth. A piece of paper. Carrie tugged at it carefully, attempting not to tear it as she retrieved it from the zip. She released it with minimal tearing, although it was evidently old and worn from being left to float around her pencil case for a while.

She unfolded it, her stomach twisting with uncomfortable nostalgia as she registered the handwriting on the paper. Pink and purple gel pen writing in Julie's familiar curly letters, Flynn's neat, unjoined handwriting...

Happy Birthday, Carrie!! - this was written by Julie, the i's dotted with stars, the y's looped at the tail - hope you like the pencil case, we know yours is falling apart and this one was perfect, but we thought it needed bedazzling <3

Carrie chuckled; that was just like Julie, to see a fairly plain-looking pencil case and notice its potential to be something beautiful. Julie never passed on an opportunity to get out her craft set, and that was evident from the little patch of daisy stickers decorating one corner of the note.

The bottom of the paper was filled with Flynn's handwriting, pink and glittery - Carrie's favourite. 

Happy Birthday! We love youuuuu - I've made a playlist of ALL our fave tunes for your party tonight - it's gonna be EPIC!!!!! :D And I will be making you wear a party hat, jsyk xx

And she did. All of the pictures from that birthday feature a wide-smiled Carrie in the most gaudy little party hat available at the store. It seriously clashed with her meticulously assembled outfit and the pink streaks her mom had let her get in her hair as a special birthday treat, but she had thought it was the silliest, cutest thing ever, and refused to take it off all night.

Carrie wouldn't dream of doing that now. Those pictures stayed locked away firmly in family photo albums - that was the compromise, as she'd begged her parents to destroy the ones where she had little smears of buttercream on her cheeks and the tip of her nose. They'd refused, and now she just prayed that they wouldn't resurface and humiliate her for the rest of time. She had an image to uphold, after all. 

****

Kayla didn't know Julie Molina too well. From what she could tell, she was a pretty nice girl who always wore the cutest outfits to school (Kayla loved purple, and so did Julie), but Kayla could tell that she was acting...strange.

Julie seemed out of breath as she half-jogged towards Kayla, her curly hair bouncing behind her, moved by her speed. Kayla was simply minding her own business, unpacking the textbooks that she would need for her homework assignments over the weekend. She realised that she was the target of Julie's mission when the other girl stopped at the locker next to hers, slamming her hand against the metal doors to steady herself and catch her breath.

"Hey! It's Kayla, right?" Julie asked, her smile slightly too wide as she rested her hands on her knees, attempting to steady her breathing.

"Yes?" Kayla's eyebrows creased; she'd probably only spoken to Julie once when they'd been partnered up for a biology experiment, and yet here she was, speaking to Kayla and gasping for air as she attempted not to pass out against the bright blue lockers.

"Perfect! Could you do me a favour?"

"I...I guess?"

Julie didn't hesitate before she started to explain Kayla's quest. "I need you to tell Flynn - you know Flynn Taylor, right?"

Oh, boy did Kayla know Flynn. Every time she and Carrie talked lately, it was all 'Flynn this' and 'Flynn that' and 'can you believe what Flynn said to me today?!'

Kayla could probably write an entire novel on the life and habits of Flynn Taylor. Scratch that. An entire, best-selling series.

"Sure, why?" She asked, zipping up her now-full backpack as she slung it over one shoulder.

"Cool - she's in the library right now, and I need you to tell her to go to the music room - but tell her not to go in! She can't go in!"

Kayla was fully lost by now, her forehead creasing even more as she considered the swiftest exit route. "How am I meant to-"

"Just tell her that you heard someone talking about her! Make her feel nosy!"

Once Kayla had agreed, despite her confusion and mostly just to end this baffling interaction, Julie dashed off, yelling her thanks over her shoulder.

Well, it's not like Kayla had anything else to do with the last fifteen minutes of her lunch break.

Chapter Text

As instructed, Willie was positioned in the music room, trying his absolute best not to check his watch every five seconds. He'd texted Alex, asking to meet him in five minutes - it was now the fourth minute, and Willie's knee was bouncing up and down as the adrenaline of Julie's plan rushed through his veins. He and Alex had the same free period for the next lesson, but Flynn only had fifteen minutes left of lunch; they were on a time crunch.

It was a pretty ridiculous plan, he thought, but maybe - just maybe -they might actually be able to pull it off...

Right on time, the door to the music room opened, and Alex slipped in when the gap was wide enough, his face lighting up as soon as he saw Willie. 

"Hey!" he grinned, letting the door swing behind him.

"How's it going, hot dog?" Willie asked, pushing out the chair under the desk he was perched on with a nudge of his foot.

"You really need to stop calling me that," Alex groaned as he clearly attempted to suppress a chuckle.

"Is that what you want?"

Alex hesitated, pausing for a moment as the corners of his lips twitched. "...No."

"Just as I thought," Willie smiled. "So...it's the end of your first week at Los Feliz - first impressions?"

"Not bad, actually!" Alex replied, fiddling with the keyboard on the desk. It wasn't switched on, so it only made a dull 'clunk, clunk' noise in the background as they spoke. "I'm honestly just impressed that I've managed to make a few friends."

Willie nudged Alex with the side of his leg. "Well, who wouldn't want to be friends with you?" He took great enjoyment in the shade of pink that crept into Alex's cheeks as he was stunned into silence, the forced roll of his eyes as he brushed off the compliment. "How have band rehearsals been going, by the way? Got any shows yet?"

"It's been going well, actually," Alex nodded. "No gigs, but Luke's working on it. He pretty much lives for the band - I'm worried he doesn't sleep because of it."

Interesting, Willie thought, storing the name 'Luke' at the back of his mind. He was vaguely aware of the guy, thanks to Carrie's cousin (not that he really knew Bobby that well, either). Willie would recognise Luke if he passed him in the halls, and heard his band play at the occasional school showcase, but they'd never spoken.

Still...passion for music, dedication, and that signature cute smile? It was kind of perfect, actually.

Out of the corner of his eye, through the slim, vertical window of the music room door, Willie spotted her. A blur of chunky, neon jewellery and her pink and orange fingernails were fully visible as she cupped her ear against the door; maybe she hadn't registered that she was in full view through the window, but the objective wasn't hiding from Flynn, it was to be heard by Flynn.

He pretended that he hadn't seen her as he turned back to Alex. "So, how are things going with Carrie?"

****

Flynn didn't waste any time shoving her recently borrowed books into her galaxy-print tote bag as she darted through the door and down the stairs towards the music department. 

She just knew it had to be Carrie - this did make her curious about why Kayla was the one delivering the news, but maybe she just had morals and didn't let friendship stand in the way of them!

It was because of Kayla that Flynn found herself pressed up against the door of one of the music rooms, a hand cupped around her ear as she strained to hear the conversation taking place inside. She was just in time to hear the first voice - she was also just in time to be horrified that it was an incredibly familiar voice that she knew all too well.

"So, how are things going with Carrie?"

It was Willie?! Willie - one of her closest friends - was gossiping about her, and to Carrie's latest recruit, no less...

She knew that there was something fishy about Carrie taking the new kid under her wing, that she would use him for her wicked schemes, dragging Willie along for the ride...

Okay, she chastises herself, be cool. Maybe he's just after some intel. 

"They're going pretty well," the other boy - Alex? - replied. "Carrie's, well...between you and me? I guess I'm just not sure what to make of her. She's nice to me, we text a lot, she's spent a few lunches with me and the guys, but she can be a little..."

"Frosty?"

Flynn heard Alex laugh. "Yeah, frosty. It's weird, though, 'cause she isn't like that all the time." Flynn heard Willie chuckle, and Flynn had to stop herself from joining. "No, seriously! She's been teaching me some dance moves, actually!"

"Seriously?" If Flynn could see Willie, he'd probably have that big, cute, stupid grin on his face. “I’d love to see you dance with Dirty Candi – I think you’d be pretty sick.”

“I don’t know about that…” Alex replied. “I don’t really get what Carrie’s deal is, honestly. She’s cool to hang out with, when it's just the two of us you know? But then, it’s like…it’s like she just gets meaner when other people are around. I can’t figure her out and, no offence, man, but I think it has something to do with you and your friends.”

"Partially," Willie confirmed, and Flynn pushed her ear as close to the door as physically possible - there couldn't have been more than an atom between her cheek and the smooth gloss of the wood. "But I think it mainly had something to do with Flynn."

Flynn's heart rate quickened as he said her name, not even outraged enough at Willie gossiping about her to a friend of Carrie's to burst through the door and intervene. She was too invested, too desperate to hear exactly what they might say about Carrie and her. 

"Oh, yeah. She's mentioned her a few times. Like, more than a normal amount for someone she supposedly hates - I've never met Flynn but I know a whole lot about her," Alex explained. Flynn couldn't deny that this made her feel a little smug - Carrie was so obsessed. "I asked her if, you know, there was something going on between them and she got all defensive about it. Like, serious denial, so I asked Bobby about it, and he filled me in."

"About how they used to date?"

"Yep," Alex confirmed. Oh, so Carrie was rewriting history now, huh? Even when she was the one to ask Flynn out in the first place!

When it was her fault that it ended! 

"You know," Alex continued, his voice becoming too quiet for Flynn to hear. She managed to make out a few words: "I think...Carrie...still...with..." 

Flynn strained desperately to hear, unable to lean in any closer to the door. She couldn't make out anything else that was said, her frustration raising as she tried to get a better look at his face - maybe she could lipread? What were they saying about Carrie?!

"No way!" Willie exclaimed, his volume not ideal for exchanging secrets - not that Flynn was complaining, of course. Bless her friend and his inability to use an inside voice; she figured she deserved to hear this, all things considered. "You think that Carrie still has feelings for Flynn?!"

Flynn couldn't stop the yelp that escaped her mouth, surprising herself with the high-pitched noise. Immediately ducking to the floor, she clamped her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from making another sound. However, this attempt at silence was ruined as her tote bag slipped off her shoulder, crashing to the hard floor as all of her books skidded across the ground noisily. Much to Flynn's horror the biggest book, a hardback history textbook, slid right into the music room door with a loud thud, surely alerting Willie and Alex of her presence. She was so afraid of making any more sudden moves that she left the books where they were, strewn across the floor as she crouched, hand still over her mouth.

At that moment, Reggie Peters passed by, spotting Flynn on the floor as he glanced sideways. Eyebrows drawing together with concern as he asked; "Are you okay? Do you need help?"

Flynn shook her head, quickly, giving him a thumbs up in an attempt to convince him that everything was fine, nothing to see! With a baffled shrug, he returned her thumbs up before starting to walk again, away from Flynn. 

The boys continued talking inside the music room, apparently unfazed by her failure to remain hidden away. 

"I mean, she does bring her up a lot," Alex affirmed, and Flynn felt her heart in her mouth. "There's definitely still some feelings there."

Willie sighed exaggeratedly. "It's honestly such a shame - she's gonna be heartbroken. Flynn hates her."

Flynn wanted to leap up off of the ground and burst into the music room, to shut Willie up before that got back to Carrie - Alex couldn't tell her that Flynn hated her!

But, wait...why not? Why did she care? Flynn did hate Carrie!

Right?

Her heart audibly thumped against her ribcage, blood rushing to her ears as Willie continued. "Maybe you need to just...tell Carrie it's not gonna happen. You need to shut her down before this goes too far!"

"No!" Alex protested, and Flynn nodded in silent agreement, her earring charms rattling against one another as she did so. "I can't- I can't crush her like that, it's clear that she's still not taking their breakup well!"

"It's sort of sad, really," Willie said, still talking too loudly for such a private conversation. His projection skills were unmatched, but Flynn really felt that he should learn when and when not to use it - was he trying to put her business on blast for the whole music block? "I mean...Carrie is still so heartbroken, and there's nothing she can do about it. Like, sure, she brought it on herself, but I still feel bad for her."

"Maybe she would, you know, confess," Alex suggested, and Flynn climbed up onto her knees. "But...but only if she thought Flynn felt the same way. She wouldn't put herself out there like that. She's-"

"Frosty?" Willie repeated, and while Flynn had been inclined to agree the first time he'd said it, she felt the need to defend Carrie. 

And yet...he had a point.

Carrie didn't like talking about 'feelings stuff,' and that had been part of the problem, in the end. Flynn was open about everything, hated bottling things up, and was always willing to talk if something was wrong. She hated when people kept things from her, but Carrie avoided vulnerability like the plague. Carrie had an 'image' to preserve, and it drove Flynn insane towards the end of their relationship. How Carrie would sit there looking irritated about something, but brushing off Flynn when she checked up on her. Carrie started blowing off serious conversations because she had better things to do, cancelling hangouts with the rest of the group because she had another offer. Flynn made every effort to hold their group together, but Carrie decided that she would rather hang out with the new group she'd been gathering.

Everything just seemed to have gone wrong all at once, and yeah, Flynn was still hurting from it.

But there was something about what Alex had said. It nudged at something within Flynn, perhaps a naive part of her that thought that maybe the old Carrie really was still in there, somewhere. Maybe Carrie had regrets about what went down and how she'd ended things with Flynn. How she'd ditched the people who knew her best. The Carrie that Alex described, offering dance lessons and having fun when other people weren't around - that was the Carrie that Flynn knew.

Well, once upon a time.

"I'm seeing her tomorrow," Alex said, and Flynn suddenly remembered what she was doing - eavesdropping. "We're rehearsing at Bobby's and she said that she'd come along to 'critique.' Should I...should I ask her about it?"

"No!" Willie yelped, panic in his voice. "No, absolutely not, that's a bad idea - she'll just push you away. Don't force it, okay?"

"Right, yeah. You're right," Alex agreed, before changing the subject - Flynn was not ready for a subject change! She needed to hear more! "Do you have much work to do in your free period?"

"Nope," Willie replied. "I was just kinda hoping we could hang for a while. Maybe, you know, you could teach me something on the drums - I did teach you how to balance on a skateboard the other day."

Flynn pushed herself up off the ground, not even attempting to stay hidden as she gathered her books and crammed them back into her tote. She wasn't going to sit there and listen to Willie flirt - she had far more pressing issues!

For example - the fact that Carrie was still totally in love with her! Well, they didn't say that exactly, but that's basically what they were saying! 

Another issue was arising, too. The issue that Flynn was beginning to find it increasingly difficult, despite all of the sad facts of their current dynamic, to ignore the fact that maybe - just maybe - she still felt the same. Just a little.

Barging into the bathroom, she gripped one of the sinks with her hands, jaw on the floor as she stared into the mirror. "Oh my god...oh my god!" She repeated this over and over to herself. Pushing down on the tap, she began to splash her face with cold water - yep, this was definitely happening. It wasn't just another weird dream that she would wake up from in a cold sweat the next morning, it was 100% real.

And it was going to get worse. Just as Flynn splashed a third handful of water across her face, one of the stall doors opened and Carrie stepped out, the chunky heels of her pink Mary Janes tapping against the tiled floor. The intake of breath that Flynn took was so sudden that she inhaled a huge droplet of water, making her splutter.

"What are you doing?" Carrie looked her up and down, her upper lip curled into a sneer, her right eyebrow perfectly arched.

"Carrie!" Flynn cried. "Uh, hi, Carrie! What are you doing here?"

Blinking twice, Carrie walked over to the third sink away from Flynn's, washing her hands. "I'm using the bathroom. What are you doing?"

"Oh, same!" Flynn nodded, attempting to dry her face with the sleeve of her jumper. "Weird coincidence, huh?!"

“What, that we’re both using the bathroom…in the bathroom?” Carrie’s expression was unreadable, a peculiar mix of judgement and…endearment? Flynn might’ve been seeing things, but something in her mind told her that the smirk growing on Carrie’s face wasn’t merely cruel and teasing, but amused. "You still have my sharpener, by the way."

"Oh!" Flynn exclaimed, fumbling for her pencil case and attempting not to drop all of her books again. "Right! Yes! I forgot about that, I noticed last night and I was like...oh my god! That's Carrie's pencil sharpener, how crazy is that!" She was rambling, her mouth moving faster than her mind, which was begging it to stop. Finally, she found the sharpener. "Here!"

Carrie blinked twice. "Okay?" She pocketed the sharpener, still looking at Flynn.

“Well, uh…” Flynn couldn’t think of anything to say, nothing that would help her current situation. “I’ll see you later, enjoy!”

And then she fled.

****

Julie was hiding in the bathroom in the science block, getting increasingly impatient as the call tone continued to ring through her phone speaker - Willie usually answered so quickly! What was taking so long?!

Finally, after about eight rings, he picked up. "Hey, Jules! What's up?"

"How did it go?" She demanded - they could do small talk later.

"The scheme is complete," he confirmed, and Julie punched the air with a loud 'whoop!' before Willie continued. "And it was a piece of cake - Alex brought it up before I even got the chance to mention it."

"Wait, what?" Julie asked.

"Let's just say," Willie answered, his smirk evident even in audio form. "I don't think it's gonna take much convincing to get Carrie to want to win Flynn back."

"As in she already does?!" Julie practically squealed. She loved it when her plans came through.

"We can't say for sure, but we feel pretty good about our odds."

Julie grinned, "So, you and Alex are a 'we' now, huh?"

Willie went quiet for a moment, and Julie would've given a lot to see the look on his face at that moment. "This isn't about me," he said finally. "On another note - I think I've found someone for you to take to the dance!"

Oh, right. Julie had forgotten about that,

"And who would that be?" Julie asked, hoping that she sounded at least a little like she didn't care.

"You know Luke Patterson? Always lurking in the music rooms, super messy hair, no shirt sleeves, plays the guitar?"

Julie considered this for a moment, trying to attach a face to the name. "One sec," she said, pulling her phone away from her ear and switching to speaker phone. After tapping out her password, she headed to Instagram and searched for his name. Luckily for her, he didn't have any privacy settings enabled, allowing her to snoop through his feed.

She knew him, alright. She may not have remembered his name, but she'd seen his band perform at school events - they were good.

"He's in Sunset Curve," Willie explained. "You know, with Alex? He was talking about Luke today and I thought he sounded like a perfect candidate for your date."

"I mean," Julie began, flicking through a few of his photos. They were mostly candid shots; lots of pictures of him performing, tuning his guitar. Julie's favourite (not that she was paying that close attention, obviously) was one of him dangling upside down on a swing set, mid-swing with a huge grin, as though he was laughing. There was something about the energy of the picture that Julie was drawn to, a carefree vibe that she found sort of...endearing. "I guess he's pretty cute," she observed.

"And he likes music, so you'd have something to talk about at the dance! Win-win!"

Julie sighed, leaning back against the bathroom stall door. "Sure, but how am I meant to ask out a guy who doesn't even know me? Isn't that kinda weird?" 

"Well, you get to know him! Just...follow him on Instagram, see what happens!" Willie laughed as if it was really that simple.

"He has over eight hundred followers, he'll probably just assume I'm a fan of his music. If I actually want to talk to him, I'll need to get his number, and I am not walking up to some random guy and asking for-"

"Look," Willie interrupted, "just leave it to me, okay?"

Chapter Text

By Friday, Alex was practically floating on air. All in all, it had been a pretty great week; he'd joined a great band, made some great friends, and met a great guy - was this even his life?! It all seemed too good to be true, as if someone was about to pull the rug out from under his feet at any minute. He felt as though he was going to go home for the weekend and by Monday, the dreamy haze of his first week at Los Feliz would dissipate and he'd be alone, hiding in some empty classroom to eat his lunch.

God, he hoped not.

Even being at home was going to be a little less of a struggle this weekend; his only ally in the Mercer family was finally visiting - his big sister was back in town. Steph being home would give him a chance to breathe for once.

She'd also just had a really good job offer, which would - with any luck - make Alex thoroughly uninteresting to his parents for a little while.

Rain pattered against the plastic walls of the bus shelter as Alex drummed his fingers against his knee; the bus was late, and his already numb fingers were getting redder by the minute, sore from the cold. However, the peace he felt sitting there, listening to the raindrops and watching the world go by, was preferable to being at the house until his sister's flight arrived at six. 

On the other side of the street, Alex saw a coatless Willie jogging away from the school gates, a skateboard held over his head in lieu of an umbrella.

"Hey!" Alex called, removing an earphone. "Willie, get over here!"

Willie's face split into a grin as he spotted him, his eyes crinkling as he immediately crossed the street. "Hey, man! Nice weather, huh?"

"Dude," Alex sighed. "You're...you're gonna get hypothermia or something - where's your coat?"

Willie responded with a shrug. "If I run fast enough, it'll keep me warm."

“That’s not how that…okay,” Alex shook his head, the plasticky material of his raincoat hood crinkling as he moved. “Look, just…just take my umbrella, okay?” He unzipped his school bag, passing the umbrella to Willie.

“Fine,” Willie accepted it with a smile, “if it’ll ease your mind.”

“It will, thank you.”

“When’s your bus meant to arrive?”

Alex checked the time on his phone, his shoulders slumping as he saw that it was almost four-thirty. “Half an hour ago.”

“Awh, man,” Willie winced. “You sure you don’t want to keep your umbrella?”

Alex tugged at his raincoat. “I have my hood, I’ll be fine. How far do you have to walk?”

With a dismissive wave, Willie replied, “It’s literally like, a ten-minute walk away. I’ll live.”

“Okay, good.” Alex was about to ask Willie about his weekend plans, but he spoke first:

"Hey, I wanted to ask before I forget," Willie said, pulling out his phone. Alex's face became uncomfortably warm as he realised what was happening, heart hammering against his ribcage. Holy crap! 

They'd been mainly communicating via Instagram DMs, but texting? With each other's numbers? That was new territory, and it was serious territory.

However, Alex's bubble was immediately burst, stepped on, and run over by a double-decker bus (not his bus, obviously) as Willie continued: "Would you be able to give me Luke's number? I would ask him myself, but I don't really know him that well so...you know." Willie scratched his head, seeming slightly embarrassed - flustered, even.

The usually active butterflies in Alex's stomach had all simultaneously dropped dead, his heart crushing them all as it sunk like a rock in a pool. Had he just imagined the past few days?! He thought he and Willie had something special - chemistry!

He seriously hoped that the tears prickling at his eyes could pass for stray raindrops from his slightly damp, floppy hair, that the pinkness of his nose could be blamed on the biting cold. His hands trembled as he pulled out the same little scrap of paper that Luke had handed to him mere days before, nodding instead of replying because if he tried to speak, his voice would wobble and immediately betray his attempt at maintaining a cool exterior.

Of course Willie liked Luke; even though he wasn't really Alex's type, he could certainly see the appeal. He had this casual charisma, an effortless coolness that Alex felt he'd never been able to master. He had that crooked grin, that sense of humour, great hair - did Alex not have great hair?!

He felt himself beginning to spiral, unravelling like a dropped ball of wool that he couldn't catch fast enough. He was suddenly reminded of their conversation in the music room, and how Willie had become sort of...quiet and thoughtful at the mention of Luke. How the subtle quirk of Willie's mouth hadn't stood out to him at the time, but now seemed like the most tragically obvious sign that Alex had been imagining things.

He could barely look at Willie as he copied the number into his phone, Luke's new contact page lighting up Willie's devastatingly beautiful face amongst the dreary greyness of the weather.

"Perfect," Willie said, patting Alex on the shoulder. It was a familiar gesture, but Alex felt that he should pull away from the contact, knowing that Willie didn't interpret it the same way as him. The whole afternoon was turning into a nightmare; Alex had been flirting with Willie for the entire week and - oh, god, what if he'd noticed?  Would Willie freak out if he found out that Alex was crushing on him when he saw their relationship as strictly platonic?

Alex was suddenly overcome with the sense that he had made up the whole thing in his head. Had he really convinced himself that Willie was using 'bro,' and 'dude' as romantic terms of endearment? That Willie's gentle touches and soft-eyed smiles were anything other than the gestures of a good friend? 

"Well, hot dog, I'd better get in the dry - and your bus had better hurry up," he laughed. "Hope you have a good weekend!" Willie smiled again, with the same softness that Alex had become so used to in the past few days.

"Yeah, you too," Alex waved half-heartedly, attempting a smile as Willie bolted off into the rain, gripping the umbrella as he attempted to put it up against the wind that seemed determined to blow him over.

Alex would've chuckled at Willie's escape yesterday, but today, he was left heartbroken as he waited for a bus that was probably never going to come.

The spark of excitement that he had allowed himself to feel for Steph's visit had entirely fizzled out, and all he wanted now was to curl up into a little ball of self-pity and hide from the world until his heart could piece itself back together.

So basically, for the rest of time.

****

Flynn's eyes were fixed on the constellation of glow in the dark stars on her bedroom ceiling. She was still reeling almost six hours after overhearing Willie and Alex's conversation in the music room. 

Did Carrie really still have feelings for her?!

Well, she certainly had a weird way of showing it with all of the snide remarks and her pointed and deliberate exclusion of Flynn and Julie from her 'legendary' house parties. Not that Flynn would want to hang out at Carrie's, anyway, listening to tinny music and pretending to enjoy the sweaty dancing, packed into a room with a bunch of teenagers that she barely knew. Still, someone who supposedly 'liked' her would probably think to extend an invitation.

The much more pressing matter, however, was whether Flynn still had feelings for Carrie. Now, that was a more complicated question.

Carrie had been downright mean to her and Julie for the past year, channelling her 'recently broken up' energy through deeply cutting insults, making her distaste for the other two girls very apparent.

Why should Flynn waste her time getting hung up on someone like that, exactly? Why should it matter if Carrie is harbouring feelings for her, one year later? If she wanted Flynn to feel sorry for her, it wasn't working.

But the way that the light caught her hair at just the right angle sometimes, and it really brought out the—

No! Flynn shook her head, as though she thought it might loosen those thoughts and send them flying from her mind. Okay, fine, Carrie was pretty, but pretty didn’t mean nice. Pretty didn’t make up for a year of harsh words and sneering glances. And Flynn had spent the entire year biting back, fighting off Carrie’s attacks with her own snarky retorts, purposefully burning any planks of wood that remained from the bridge between them. Flynn was done with Carrie.

But…but what Willie and Alex had said…what if Carrie really could change? What if things could go back to the way that they were, before ego got in the way, before status became more important...

Frustrated, Flynn grabbed one of her many throw cushions, shoving her face into the floral fabric to muffle her irritated groan.

Why were feelings so complicated? Why couldn’t she be all hung up on a nice girl with a nice attitude, who treated people the way she wanted to be treated and didn’t deliberately try to make them feel small?

Why did it have to be Carrie?

****

Julie had been staring at the empty, yet-to-exist chat between her and Luke Patterson for about ten minutes.

It was weird, right? Weird for her to have his number without him knowing, that is.

There had to be another way to do this - she hated texting new people. How did you start that conversation? How did you come across as cool and interesting with only a few written words, maybe an emoji? She couldn't start a successful correspondence with Luke over text!

God, Julie thought, 'correspondence' makes it sound like...like a business venture, or something.

Well...it sort of was, in a way. She was asking out Luke as a favour for a friend; Willie wanted to date Alex, and Flynn would only agree to a date if Julie and Willie already had. 

What did she already know about Luke Patterson? Well, he liked music, and...

Okay, so that was exactly one thing. But it was a start!

There was another thing that she knew - Julie thought he was seriously cute. She'd found herself flicking through his Instagram a few times since Willie had suggested that she get to know him. Of course, she couldn't start an entire conversation with him based on that, but it must've been a good sign that when she thought about him she felt a small flutter in her chest, the excitement of a teenaged crush. It wasn't based on much yet, but it was still a good motivator.

Maybe she could call him? No. Terrible idea - people her age didn't just call unannounced! Phone calls were either for absolute emergencies or scheduled in advance. Texting was, in general, just considered more polite.

Julie must've drafted about twenty text messages over the course of the weekend, unable to settle on the most...normal way to open a conversation with someone she didn't know.

Hey! Not sure if you know me, but-

Probably not the best idea to draw attention to the fact that they were all but strangers, Julie decided.

Hey, it's Julie from school! Love your music! Wanna go on a date? 

WAY too forward! That just made her sound like...some obsessive fan who'd pulled some suspicious strings to get his number.

Julie was seriously starting to consider abandoning ship - her deepest apologies to Willie and Flynn, but this just wasn't for her. Was she seriously considering 'wooing' a guy she barely knew?

She did, of course, want to know him, but that required her to get through this step first.

That evening, she was eating ramen with Carlos and her dad in front of the TV; it was Carlos' turn to pick the movie so, naturally, they were watching Ghostbusters. Again.

Deciding that her brother was reasonably distracted by the TV, she shifted to face her dad. "When you met Mom, how did you ask her out?"

Her dad raised an eyebrow, winding a noodle around his fork. "What makes you think I asked her out?"

Julie shrugged with a smile, and her dad continued: "We were really good friends for a while, and then we sort of...fell together naturally. Not everyone dates in the same way, there's no formula - does that make sense?" Julie nodded. "Why do you ask?" His eye twinkled in that signature 'dad' way - it was the look that said 'I know that you're not telling me something'.

"I just wanted to know more about you guys when you were younger," Julie replied, pretending once again to be invested in the movie as she swallowed a mouthful of ramen.

"So...your not asking for the sake of, you know...a hypothetical crush?" He pressed gently, also pretending to be interested in the TV.

"Nope," Julie replied with a shake of her head. Did she really 'have her eye' on Luke? That felt like a weird way of putting it, to her. "I don't have time for a crush, hypothetical or not." He didn't know about the pact, thankfully. 

Her dad chuckled. "Not really how that works, mija - isn't it the case that you don't really choose to fall in love? Doesn't it just happen, schedule be damned?"

"Did it just 'happen' with you and mom?" Julie asked, just as a ghost got busted on screen.

Her dad had that wistful, far-off look that only appeared when someone mentioned Rose, physically looking at the TV but obviously lost in his own mind, reliving what seemed like a particularly sweet memory. "I didn't realise I was falling in love until one day, we were hanging out and...bam!"

“Isn’t that scary, though? Completely losing control over your feelings?” Julie asked.

“Of course it’s scary,” he smiled, “it’s terrifying. But…it’s also a really amazing feeling.”

Julie struggled to balance the idea of ‘scary’ and ‘amazing’ – she’d avoided every single ‘crush’-feeling she’d ever had, too afraid of what could go wrong.

People broke up all of the time! People left, people fought, people grew apart naturally, and this was not an easy fact for Julie to deal with. Take Carrie and Flynn, for example; they’d seemed so great together. They were two of Julie's best friends, and their falling out had shaken up her entire life.

Julie lost a childhood friend to the hell that is high school, and Flynn had her heart shattered. People kept describing it as her ‘first heartbreak’, and Julie resented the implication that it was accepted that this would happen again, that Julie herself would get her heart crushed like that multiple times until she found the ‘right’ person – and even they could break her heart.

Julie wanted to fall in love. But she wanted the end result – the ‘Ray and Rose Molina’ love story, with none of the hardship that came along the way.

But even then, that ‘perfect’ love story ended in heartbreak – her dad found her mom and loved her with everything he had. And then he lost her.

“But…” Julie searched for the right way to word this. Her dad, always seeming to have the right answer, spoke before she could complete her thought.

“I still love your mom, mija, and even though she left us too soon…I’m still glad I fell in love with her, and that we got to spend the time we did have together. Okay?”

Julie nodded, staring into her ramen. “Okay.”

****

Steph came home to loud, miserable music blasting down the stairs and her mother silently fuming as she passive-aggressively peeled a potato.

"Hey, Mom," she greeted, struggling to pull her suitcase over the porch doorframe whilst also trying not to slip on the wet soles of her shoes. "Is, uh...is everything okay?"

Mrs Mercer pressed a quick, cold kiss to her daughter's cheek, continuing with her peeling. "Your brother's in one of his moods. I don't know what's gotten into him, honestly, but I wish he'd turn it down." She raised her voice at the end of the sentence, as though it could win the battle with Alex's musical rage.

"Have you tried asking what's the matter?"

It was a stupid question - her parents avoided honest conversation and offerings of support at the best of times, especially when it came to Alex. But Steph, more recently a teenager than her mother, knew that there were very few reasons that Alex would be blasting 'Creep' by Radiohead at such an ungodly volume.

Her mother simply shrugged, rolling her eyes. "And what do I say to him, hm? I don't even know how to speak to him anymore." Steph's unspoken reply was something akin to 'and I'm sure you've tried so hard,' but she knew it would be just as effective as arguing with a brick wall.

"I'll go and talk to him," she announced. Well, it seemed that the time had come for Steph to nurse her little brother through his first heartbreak.

"Hey," Steph said quietly, tapping her knuckles against the door with a soft knock. They'd decorated Alex's door together when she was ten and he was five, sitting at the kitchen table cutting letters out of pink card, printing out pictures of his favourite singers. Steph smiled at the now-faded, slightly torn print-outs of the Jonas Brothers as she pulled on the door handle gently. "Hey 'Lex, I'm home!"

The only reply that she heard beneath the music was a very wet sniffle and a grumble. When Steph poked her head around the door frame, she found her little brother - though he had shot up a fair few inches since the last time she saw him - red-eyed, damp-haired, and sprawled out on his bed, still wearing his raincoat. Lying next to him on his crumpled bedsheets was a slightly squished plastic bottle, half-filled with water.

"You know," Steph said gently, turning down the music, "if you sit in those wet clothes, you'll get hypothermia."

For some reason, what Steph had thought would be a completely neutral comment only made things worse, and Alex’s sobs became even louder as he flipped himself over, burying his face in his pillow.

He’d only been at this new school for one week! Relationships really did seem like life or death in high school, huh?

“Hey, hey,” Steph sat on the edge of Alex’s bed, shuffling up to run her fingers through his damp hair. “What’s up?”

Surprisingly, Alex actually managed to force out a reply, in between gut-wrenching sobs: “I—I really l-liked him b-but he likes Luke!”

Steph’s heart sunk – not only because her little brother was clearly heartbroken, but because their mom was currently rolling her eyes at him in the kitchen, peeling potatoes instead of wiping his tears. And their dad…well, if he was home to see Alex crying to one of his old CDs at that volume, he wouldn’t take the ‘ignore’ approach that her mom was.

“Oh, squirt,” she rubbed his back with her free hand, using the nickname she’d given him as a kid. “I know it hurts now, but it’ll be okay! You’ll meet someone really great, and—”

“I don’t wanna,” Alex’s voice was muffled against his pillow. “’m never goin’ to school again. Made a total fool of myself.”

Steph sighed, knowing from experience that, as a teenager, that first heartbreak really does feel like the end of the world. Everything seems unfixable, and all you want to do is wallow and wail until you have no more tears left. And it seemed to her that Alex had only gotten through about half of his.

But Steph was a good big sister and she wasn’t letting Alex wallow in his room over a guy. “Right,” she sat up. “Put on a dry coat, we’re going for pizza.”

“But mom’s making stew,” Alex reminded her, no light in his eyes as he did.

Steph raised an eyebrow. “You really want stew right now?”

Needless to say, Mrs Mercer wasn’t impressed when her children fled the house with little more than a 'see you later' before the door slammed shut behind them.

END OF ACT TWO

Chapter Text

GROUP CHAT: double trouble + their roadie

Flynn: it's been nice knowing you guys </3

Flynn: I'll miss you both :') :')

Willie: ...should we b worried?

Flynn: definitely

Julie: girl?! are you good?!

Flynn: i have THEE worst cold. can barely breath out of either of my nostrils literally send help D':

Flynn: life hack - don't take an evening stroll in the rain I'm fighting for my LIFE rn

Willie: u got tylenol?

Julie: take some medicine and DON'T COME TO SCHOOL ISTG STAY HOME AND GET BETTER

Willie: pls 

Julie: pls x2

Willie: ...

Willie: @FLYNN @FLYNN @FLYNN

Julie: ARE YOU OKAY @FLYNN?!!?

Flynn: dude i was just getting some tylenol. chill

Flynn: not coming 2 school today pls don't ask my teachers for homework xoxo

Julie: how will i go on w/out you?! my bff?! feel better flynnieee xx

Willie: I'll pour one out for u at lunch (a lemonade)

Willie: get well soon bestie lmk if u need anything <3

Flynn: ily guys <3 going back to bed try not to miss me too much

****

The music rooms were always empty on Monday mornings, and Luke had a great track record of being the first person to enter the building to use them. Not that he considered himself to be a particularly dedicated student - it was more that his parents complained if his amp was too loud, and he couldn't waste the little money he had saved up to rent out practice space for anything other than Sunset Curve rehearsals.

After tuning his guitar, he decided to spend the hour he had before registration running through the riff he'd been working on for 'Lakeside Reflection.' His calloused fingertips still ached from his all-day practice session yesterday, but he simply ignored the sting as he slid them up and down the strings. This riff was the only part of the song that actually seemed to be working so far. It was just the lyrics...he didn't know exactly what was wrong with them, but he knew that something was missing.

After what must've been his tenth run-through of the song, he suddenly clocked that he wasn't alone - there was a girl in the practice room. She was quite a bit shorter than Luke, with dark brown, curly hair that was slicked back into a ponytail and decorated with butterfly clips. The Nirvana t-shirt that she was wearing was obviously hand-bedazzled with tiny silver and gold gemstones, tied at the waist beneath an oversized denim jacket. Her eyelashes were long and dark, blinking as she stared at Luke with a closed-mouth smile, waving her hand. As she moved her arm, the stack of beaded bracelets she was wearing clattered against one another. 

"Hey!" She flashed a toothy grin, and he nodded in acknowledgement, his mouth twitching into a small smile. He didn't quite know what to make of her whole...standing and staring thing. "Luke, right?"

"Uhh, yes?" His voice tipped upwards, as though he wasn't sure if he was actually Luke - had she got the wrong guy? Luke didn't think he recognised her and, seriously, if he'd met her before, he would've remembered. Considering this, he wasn't exactly sure how she knew his name. Unless... "Oh, you must be a fan of Sunset Curve, right?" 

Hey, they had gained a few new followers over the summer, and a few of his classmates had complimented their latest video recently. 

However, the way that she raised one of her eyebrows, her mouth tilting upwards suggested that, okay, maybe she wasn't. "I heard you guys play once, at that school assembly. You were pretty good - I'm Julie, by the way."

Luke’s mouth popped open. “Pretty good?” he stared before repeating, “Pretty good?”

She smiled, but Luke still felt his shoulders sink. He’d rather someone hated their music than feel underwhelmed by it; that’s what she was saying, right? ‘Pretty good’ wouldn’t get album deals, and it definitely couldn’t convince his mom that he was making good life choices. He definitely had to get this riff perfect, now.

"Oh, right," he said, grip tightening on his plectrum as he continued to pluck at the strings of his guitar. He was going to have to call an emergency band meeting, probably. They'd have to run through everything again five times over to make sure that nothing was missing, to make sure that they actually did sound good - no, better than good. 

It had to be incredible. 

"You know, I play music too, sometimes," Julie continued, but Luke was too busy with his own thoughts to really process what she was saying. He heard her words but his thoughts were mostly preoccupied with scribbling down some tabs, testing out a new chord progression. "Maybe, uh...maybe we could play music together, sometime?" He was sure that he saw her wince as she said this, grimacing as she forced her way through the rest of her sentence. "Like...you know, a date?"

Luke's eyebrows shot to his hairline - a date. "Excuse me?" Okay, so, he didn't mean for it to sound that rude, but judging by the way that Julie's smile faded, it did.

He was just shocked - it was a surprise! 

"I just...you know, you're a really good musician, I'm a...a bit of a musician myself, maybe we...maybe we'd have a lot in common? I guess?" Julie sounded even more unsure as she continued, her grimace deepening with every word that she spoke. 

"Gimme just a second," Luke began, trying to get his thoughts straight - this was a lot to take in, and his brain was bouncing from 'Julie' to 'song' to 'huh?!' at a rapid pace. "I don't-" 

Julie didn't even give him a chance to finish before she started immediately backtracking. "No, no, no it's so fine, I'll just-" She paused, squeezing her eyes together and keeping them firmly shut. "I- y-yeah, okay. Yeah." Then, she turned on her heel to shove her way back through the music room door, leaving it to swing behind her as she speed-walked away. Luke could hear the squeaking soles of her trainers against the floor fading as he was left alone, completely speechless.

Well, Luke thought, that was strange. 

However, much to his delight, somewhere between Julie's arrival and speedy escape, the perfect lyric had occurred to him. Reaching for his pen, Luke scribbled away at his notebook, desperate to solidify the idea before it slipped away. 

****

Julie had locked herself in a bathroom stall, and she planned to stay there until someone noticed that she was missing and got worried enough to search for her.

Or, at least until Luke Patterson graduated. She could probably manage that.

Pulling her headphones over her ears, she cranked up her pity party playlist to what would probably be considered a dangerous volume as she typed out several quick, frantic messages to Willie:

Julie: well. that was awful

Julie: I’m never asking anyone out on a date again

Julie: EVER!!!!

Willie: omg is this my first 911?

Julie: …I’m glad you’re amused willie but I’m literally NEVER coming back to school

Julie: gonna tell dad I have cramps so he’ll come pick me up

Willie: where r u?

Within two minutes, Willie was knocking on the bathroom door, and Julie put on her best brave face as she slowly turned the lock.

“So, I take it he said no?” Willie asked, and not even that signature cheeky grin could make her feel any less like she wanted to crawl into a little, dark hole and perish, all alone. She folded her arms across her chest as Willie wriggled his way into the stall, closing the door behind him before sliding the lock back across.

“Of course he said no,” Julie scowled. “I don’t even know why I— it was a stupid idea.”

Willie shook his head, reaching out to rest his hands on Julie's shoulders, tilting his head down to look her in the eyes as he said, “No, it wasn’t, okay? Maybe you just need another approach!”

“I refuse to 'approach' this again,” Julie shuddered. "I couldn't even stick around to hear him say no! How do you expect me to-"

"Wait," Willie cut her off, raising an eyebrow. "Jules...you don't even know if he said no?" Willie moved backwards, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. “What exactly did you say to him?”

Julie recapped the entire conversation, almost word for word – it’s not like she’d be forgetting that interaction any time soon. It was up there with some of her lower moments, she thought.

She did not appreciate the way that Willie snorted, “You really just…went right for it?” Julie nodded, confused as Willie’s laughter kept coming, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

“What?” Julie cried. "What did you want me to do - not ask him? You're sending me a lot of mixed messages here!"

“So…you didn’t even, I don’t know, flirt a little first? Test the waters? Have an actual conversation?” Willie smiled in a way that Julie did not enjoy. She ran her fingers through her hair, tugging at it with frustration.

Julie groaned, planting her face in her palms and slumping against the wall next to Willie as she sunk to the floor; she didn't even want to think about the germs down there, she just felt that she really needed some 'curled up in a ball' time. “I have absolutely zero experience with this…this stuff – I don’t know how to flirt!”

"Look, you're just putting way too much pressure on yourself." Willie slid himself down next to her, wrapping an arm across her shoulders. “Maybe…maybe you just need to get your grand gesture on! Give it one final try – with a little signature Julie Molina flare. You're interested, right?"

Julie didn't reply at first, stopping to think. "Well," she began, "he seems...he seems cool, I guess." 

"Well," Willie gave her shoulder a quick squeeze, "motivation to try! And if it doesn’t work then, hey, we can just go back to the drawing board.”

Julie considered this for a moment, nodding as her humiliation slowly began to settle – it was still there, and would be for a long time, but it felt a little less like the end of the world. Maybe hugs were magical...

“Julie Molina flare, huh?”

Yeah, she could probably come up with something.

****

Kayla was trying her absolute best to finish this chemistry homework before the end of her free period; she was already acing physics, and biology was her favourite subject, but there was something about this damn electrolysis quiz that made her want to quit altogether. At least she had a masked ball committee meeting after school, she supposed – nothing could shake her out of her funk quite like selecting table displays and discussing catering for the most important night of the year.

She’d done a great job so far with the whole ‘not procrastinating’ thing – she had three questions left, and she would be done. Well, until the lesson, which was fast approaching.

Suddenly, however, she was joined at her table by what she had found to be an ideal source of distraction, lately.

Julie Molina pulled up the seat opposite to Kayla’s, gripping a stack of papers with a wide grin. “Hey, Kayla!”

“Uh, hi, Julie,” Kayla smiled, before she attempted to turn back to her work.

“Quick question,” Julie continued, “do you still play the guitar?”

Kayla shrugged, “I guess. I mean, I don’t do the school band anymore, but I play in my free time.”

“Perfect! Can you do me a huge favour?” Julie asked, thrusting one of the little stapled paper bundles towards her. It was a question that Kayla was getting used to.

Her eyes drifted between the papers - sheet music - that Julie had handed to her and the unfinished chemistry quiz.

Well…

She could always finish her homework in the first five minutes of class.

****

Reggie loved hanging out with Alex.

He discovered this pretty quickly, especially after they found out that they were in the same drama class; Reggie always reached over to grab Alex’s arm when Miss Evans announced partner work. He was so glad that he finally had a friend in this class, and never had to worry about being the only student left without a partner, forced to tack onto another pair as an awkward third wheel again. You’ve never known ‘awkward’ until you’ve had to share the Romeo part with a guy whose girlfriend was playing Juliet – Reggie had never seen such outright PDA in a classroom setting before.  

In the week since they'd met for the first time, Alex seemed to have settled right into their friend group; Reggie almost couldn't remember what it had been like without him there. 

“Okay!” Reggie grinned, skimming through the script. “Do you want to be Hamlet or Horatio?”

Alex shrugged, “Honestly, whichever has the least lines – I’m a pretty awful actor.”

“C’mon, man, it’ll be fine!” Reggie encouraged – Alex was so self-critical sometimes, and all Reggie wanted was for him to realise how awesome he was. Then again, he knew that throwing someone right in the deep end wasn’t the best way to build confidence. Plus, Alex seemed to be in a weird mood that day - probably something to do with why he couldn't make it to rehearsal on Saturday. “Okay, no worries, I’ll be Hamlet.”

They never did get a chance to run their scene, though; they were abruptly interrupted by the studio door swinging open, smacking into the wall as it went and rustling the black curtain that bordered the classroom. Reggie winced as the door handle caught one of the wall displays, almost creating a little dent in Miss Evans' notice board full of pictures from past school productions. 

“Miss Evans!” Reggie recognised the girl as Bobby’s cousin’s friend, Julie. “So sorry to interrupt but, uh, there’s been an emergency in the music department, and I need to steal Reggie and Alex for a bit, thank you!”

Miss Evans looked as though a whirlwind had hit her, flabbergasted as she gave silent permission for Alex and Reggie to leave with Julie.

Were the boys incredibly confused? Yes. Did they go along with it anyway? Obviously!

If there was a music emergency, they were surely the ones to call - they spent so much time hanging around the music department, it was practically their second home. They knew where all of the instruments were stored, because they probably put them there, and they knew how to fix most problems with the equipment, because they usually caused those problems.

“Kayla told me that you guys are in Sunset Curve, right?” Julie asked as she sped down the stairs, her feet dangerously close to the edges of the steps as she moved.

“Please be careful,” Alex groaned, taking the steps carefully and falling behind as a result. Reggie, on the other hand, kept up with her pace as she led them towards the music room. She did, at least, have her hand on the rail, the beads of her bracelets clinking against the metal.

“Yep! Tell your friends,” Reggie confirmed with a wink, face warm from the sudden burst of exercise. He did love a mystery adventure though, so he couldn’t complain.

“Fantastic! Go grab your instruments, and meet me on the football field in five.”

And then she was gone.

"What's that all about?" Alex asked, blowing a loose strand of swooping blonde hair out of his face. 

Reggie shrugged, catching his breath. "No clue."

"Huh."

"We're doing it though, right?" Reggie turned to look up at Alex, who seemed to be staring at some point in the distance, as though he could catch Julie's eye and ask what the hell was going on. She was, of course, long gone.

Alex breathed in and then released the air slowly through his nose. "I mean...yeah, I think we are."

Reggie really loved a mystery...

****

Why was she doing this? Had she completely lost her mind?

The closest thing she’d done to a public performance for the past few years was a quick recital in music class, maybe a piece with the school choir every so often. If she could help it, music remained a very private affair reserved for her friends and family within the safety of the walls of her garage.

So…why did she think that throwing together an impromptu gig on the sports field with a band that had never played together before was a good idea, exactly?

She should’ve taken more time to plan, more time to practice, but Flynn taking the day out with a cold gave her a slim window of opportunity to let this new phase of her plan fall into place. With any luck, the whole school would probably be over the spectacle of it all by tomorrow, and Flynn would be none the wiser.

“How’re you feeling?” Willie asked, shimmying the tambourine Julie had lent him – he didn’t play any instruments, but he still wanted to get involved somehow. The metal disks of the instrument clashed against one another with very little rhythm as Willie tapped it against his thigh, absentmindedly. 

“I think I’m gonna throw up,” Julie admitted, her knees slightly wobbly as she looked across the sports field. Luke’s P.E. class were hard at work, positioned in different spots on the track for the baton relay. Scanning the track, Julie spotted Luke at the second marking, red-faced and damp-haired in his pastel blue Los Feliz P.E. kit.

It wasn't just Luke's P.E. class on the sports field, though.

Julie seemed to have picked the same time to be using the space as the cheer squad, the middle schoolers who used their field for exercise, and the clusters of miscellaneous students with free periods doing homework on the bleachers. That was more of an audience than Julie felt ready for, right now. “But it’s now or never, I guess.”

“You got this,” he reassured, squeezing her hand. “If music be the food of love…play on, am I right?” He grinned expectantly, waiting for Julie to react.

“What are you talking about?” Julie drew her eyebrows together. “Who said anything about love, I’m only—”

“You know, it’s like a really famous quote. It’s Shakespeare,” he explained with a shrug. “Anyway, I’d better assume my position – good luck, Jules!” And then he just left. "You got this!" He called, sticking his thumbs up with a huge grin.

Julie watched, still feeling like she was about to hurl, as he walked away to take his spot next to the electric drum kit they’d set up for Alex – the actual drums were too hard to move without causing a huge, expensive disaster. However, instead of witnessing another sweet interaction between the pair, Julie’s confusion was only deepened as Alex strained a smile at Willie’s greeting before abruptly bending down to adjust something on the drums. 

Julie knew that there was nothing to adjust; Alex had finished setting up the drums before Willie had arrived, and was clearly just looking for an excuse not to talk.

That was, uh...strange. Had Willie mentioned anything going wrong between them? The last she’d heard, Willie was ranting about how cute he’d looked sitting in his raincoat, theorising about what music might’ve been playing in his earphones. That was only on Friday!

Maybe Alex was just nervous...she could sympathise. Maybe everything was fine, and Julie was just projecting because she felt far from fine and...did anybody have a bucket?!

Julie watched as Luke grabbed the baton from Bobby, speeding to the end of the track. As the last runner reached the finish line, Coach Baron blew his whistle, a piercing screech that echoed against every surface on the field.

It was also Julie's signal. Class was about to end, and Luke was about to start walking this way.

Now or never. 

Taking her spot behind the microphone stand that she’d bought from home, hoping to find comfort in the familiar equipment, Julie gave Alex the thumbs up as he tapped his drumsticks together to count the band in.

"One, and two and..."

****

Luke heard keys. He heard drums. He heard guitars.

It wasn’t unusual for him to hear music – he went over songs in his brain during class all the time to distract him until he could break free to the music room again – but he was certain that this was actual, real music.

Especially because the rest of the students seemed to notice it, too. Bobby poked Luke in the ribs, nudging his head towards the bleachers. “Dude, look,” Bobby grinned.

As he followed Bobby's gaze towards where the music was coming from, a voice was projected across the field. It was quite possibly the best voice he had ever heard, and it was coming from a girl standing behind a stage piano.

Julie? 

Her voice was rich and clear, with perfect technique, but most importantly…Luke could tell as he listened to her sing, that she felt every single word, even though she’d barely completed the opening lines.

Each morning, I get up, I die a little,

Can barely stand on my feet…

Luke couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he spotted Reggie and Alex up there with her, Reggie plucking at the strings of his bass from the first row of the bleachers, an electric drum kit set up on the ground. 

Also on the bleachers was Willie on the tambourine and Kayla on the guitar, back to back with Reggie as they shared a microphone. The rest of the band provided backing vocals, just as they did for Sunset Curve, but nothing could drown out Julie's as she continued...

I have spent all my years believin’ you,

But I just can’t get no relief, Lord!

She belted the last note with such force that it almost knocked Luke clean off his feet as the other musicians started the chorus, and Luke could only stare, his jaw slack and his eyes wide.

"I'm a...a bit of a musician myself..."

Did Julie realise that she was seriously underselling herself - she had to, right?

Luke watched, frozen still next to Bobby, who was backwards and forwards on his heels with excitement. He watched as Julie began stepping away from the band setup, lifting the thick microphone cord as she stepped around it, slowly walking across the field.

I work hard (She works hard) every day of my life,

I work ‘till I ache in my bones.

At the end (At the end of the day) I take home

My hard-earned pay all on my own!

Grinning, Luke soaked up every word and every note as she sang through the verse, effortlessly. Of course, as a singer himself, he knew that there was nothing effortless about the control that she had over her voice. Such clean vocals must’ve taken years to perfect, and it only increased Luke’s awe as he watched her perform, no longer able to focus any attention on the rest of her band.

Julie's entire face glowed as she sang, letting herself be completely consumed by the music. Her dark eyes sparkled with the thrill that Luke recognised all too well - the thrill of performance, the thrill of putting everything you have into that perfect show. Luke couldn't help himself, cupping his hands around his mouth to project a loud 'whoop!' to Julie, who seemed surprised at the gesture, grinning as she completed the second verse.

Yeah, she was way more than a bit of a musician. 

Seeing her in action allowed Luke to correct those words in his mind – Julie was a powerhouse, commanding the attention of everyone on the sports field and, most of all, Luke.

The song began to slow down, easing into a quiet section that began to slowly build up as the band quietened their instruments, joining in with their voices instead.

Find me somebody to love…

Julie stepped further forward, and Luke quickly realised that it was him that she was walking towards as she pointed him out in the crowd.

Wait...was she doing this for him? Luke couldn't remember the last time he'd felt genuinely flustered, overcome with a fluttering sensation in his chest as he watched this girl - this incredible, talented, delightfully confusing girl - dedicated an entire song to him in front of the whole school.

He sort of wished that he wasn’t still wearing his sweaty sports gear, wondering if he could get away with a quick sniff to make sure she wouldn’t be totally repulsed as the distance between them decreased. 

Find me somebody to love…

Stretching out her hand, slowly, Julie invited Luke to finally bridge the gap between them. Hesitantly – because of the whole ‘being really clammy’ situation – Luke took her hand. It was soft and warm, with little doodles of music notes and chemical equations scribbled across the backs and palms in blue biro. Scared to look at Julie’s face, knowing that he might turn into a little Luke-puddle if he made eye contact with her, he took the opportunity to examine her stack of bracelets. However, he was unable to get his grin under control, even as he bit the sides of his cheeks as a final attempt to regain control of his expression.

Find me somebody to love…

Julie pulled him up towards the band, swaying their arms together as they moved.

Find me somebody to love…

Luke found himself joining in, now; Julie noticed him singing along, and tilted her microphone forwards slightly. Now, both of their voices could be heard across the field, mixing together in the speakers.

Find me somebody to love…

Luke’s eyes were pulled away from Julie’s bracelets to her face, and when he finally met her eyes, the butterflies in his stomach were sent into a frenzy. He really did feel as though he was melting into a little puddle of goo under her gaze; as Julie belted her way through the final bars of the song, peppering in some incredible runs, he felt himself becoming one with the grass as his legs turned to jelly.

He was gone.

The band completed the final notes of the song, and Julie’s chest heaved with fast breaths, exhausted from the performance. The field burst into rounds of applause, and Luke was certain that he would’ve joined in, if he could just figure out how to get his damn hands to move again.

“Wow,” he breathed, smiling as Julie caught her breath, grabbing a bottle of water from beneath her keyboard. “Wow!”

“So, uh…did you enjoy it?” Julie asked, smiling hopefully. The buzz of the performance clearly hadn’t worn off yet, as she didn’t look as though she was one word away from fleeing the scene.

“Enjoy it?” Luke scoffed. “You’re incredible – seriously!”

Julie’s shoulders dropped with relief, the tension rolling off of them at the compliment. “Thanks, I was kind of freaking out about it…I honestly don’t know what possessed me, but—”

“It takes serious guts to serenade someone, you know?” Luke interrupted before she could sell herself or her performance short. “And…I’ve never been serenaded before. I liked it.”

“Really?” One of Julie’s eyebrows quirked upwards.

“Really,” Luke confirmed. “Even though you stole half of my band, but I think I’ll forgive you. It was just that good.” He punctuated the compliment with a wink, making sure that she knew he was teasing - he didn't want her to run away again.

Julie inhaled, preparing herself for something. “You know…” she started, hesitating briefly before working up th encourage to finish. “We could discuss this more at a later date.” Panic flooded her eyes, and she began to backtrack. “Another day! Not a later…I meant—”

“If you’re asking me out on a date – again,” Luke teased, and Julie groaned, “it’s a yes. Just saying."

****

Willie was experiencing a whole, weird cocktail of emotions after Julie’s serenade that afternoon.

Firstly, he felt smug and successful because he’d managed to set up Julie and Luke on a date. Well, okay, Julie did most of it by herself but he motivated her, and that had to count for something.

On the other hand, he felt confused and - honestly? - hurt by the fact that Alex had been avoiding him for days.

When he’d invited him to meet at the skatepark again on Saturday, he hadn’t been too surprised that Alex passed on the offer. Willie didn’t know many details about his family situation, but he could tell that it wasn’t ideal and that Alex didn’t have the same freedoms as him. 

Willie’s dad operated on a policy of ‘as long as you’re not breaking your bones or the law and you tell me if you’re going to be late home, I trust you to be responsible.’ From what he could tell, Alex’s parents weren’t quite so lenient. So Willie had let it go; his sister was home for the weekend, and family time was probably mandatory and more important than going to the skatepark.

But then Alex’s other replies came through, and they were short and impossible to interpret. Quick, one word answers without a drip of flirtation – Willie was so sure that Alex had been flirting before now, but now he was getting the equivalent of a ‘thumbs up emoji’ with every attempt to rekindle their previous fire. And then at school...

Alex had barely been able to look at him.

Staring at their chat history, Willie tried to decide what to say – did he just...ask what was up? What if nothing was up, and he made things awkward by freaking out because Alex was busy?

“Are you even paying attention?” His dad had noticed that he’d become fixated on his phone, rather than the movie playing on their TV. “This is an incredible piece of theatre, and you’re too busy on that phone - as usual. You know, when I was your age—”

“Yeah, I know,” Willie smirked, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You went outside and talked to people, you looked up at the world around you, blah blah blah...But you also didn’t have TV’s to watch Chicago on, so…”

“How old do you think I am, William?” his dad protested, mildly amused. “The television was invented long before I was born.”

“Okay, okay, if you say so,” Willie raised his hands in surrender. “Sorry, I’m just…I’m just not really in the mood for Chicago today, I guess.”

“What’s wrong?” His dad paused the movie, giving Willie his full attention. Willie shifted in his seat, turning his phone over a few times in his hand as he chewed the inside of his mouth, deciding on how much his dad really needed to know. “Oh…is it about a boy?”

Willie hesitated. Getting dating advice from his dad wasn’t the worst thing he could think of, considering the day he was having – also, he was kind of getting desperate. He sighed as he began to explain, retelling the story of how he met Alex, how he was really endearing, funny, sweet…and also suddenly completely avoiding Willie.

“Have you made your intentions clear?” His dad asked, and Willie was seriously considering asking if he was sure he wasn’t present for the invention of the television. Or the steam train.

“My intentions?” He repeated, amused.

His dad rolled his eyes. “Have you taken him on a date?” Willie was about to make a joke about ‘courting’ or something, but his dad started talking again before he could. “You could do something romantic – buy him a bouquet of flowers! A thoughtful gesture.”

Willie shrugged. “I don't know, dad. Usually people my age just…I don’t know, make each other playlists. Flowers might be more of a second date type thing.”

“Well,” his dad clapped his hands together triumphantly. “There you go then – make him a mix tape, I think I have some spares in my drawer.”

“Dad,” Willie grinned, “Alex probably doesn’t have a tape player. Most people don’t these days”

“I have a tape player,” he grumbled.

“Well, you’re not most people, are you?” Willie ruffled his dad’s hair, just to be frustrating, before leaving him alone with his movie.

Willie closed his bedroom door behind him and began to compile songs that reminded him of Alex, or just songs that he remembered Alex mentioning when they were discussing their favourite musicians.

He must’ve spent the better part of an hour refining the playlist, reorganising it to put it in the perfect order before sending the link to Alex.

Willie: question: if a guy sent u a playlist to ask u out, what would u say?

He attached a link, pressing send before he could chicken out.

Willie’s heart almost leapt out of his throat as the little symbol popped up to indicate that Alex had read his message and was already typing out a reply. He all but threw his phone across his bedroom, too scared to see what Alex might’ve typed when he felt his phone buzz from the edge of his bed.

This avoidance only lasted for a few seconds before Willie was overcome with a deep desire to read Alex’s message – it could be good!

However, as soon as he built up the courage to open the message, his heart promptly left his throat and made its way right down to his stomach, sinking like a brick in a swimming pool.

Alex: those are some good choices. he’d really like them.

It was more than a one-word reply, which was an improvement, but…but it didn’t seem like a particularly flattered reply. Willie had literally asked Alex out via playlist (the 21st century equivalent of a hand written letter, if you really think about it) and he’d barely reacted.

In fact...his reply seemed to suggest that Willie might have made the playlist for someone else.

Oh.

It suddenly occurred to Willie. Alex was letting him down lightly. He was giving Willie a chance to stop before he could embarrass himself any further.

This was just awful. And it would only get worse when Alex’s next message came through before Willie even had a chance to save his skin.

Alex: my dad's calling me, i've gotta go. bye.

He’d ended the message with a full stop. It was really over.

Chapter Text

GROUP CHAT: double trouble + their roadie

Flynn: guess who's thriving? spring in her step, breathing air through both nostrils, ready to slay??

Julie: hmmmmm lemme guess...

Julie: is it u?

Flynn: YEAH!! :D

Flynn: we need to do something tonight so u can catch me up on what I missed at school

Willie: u were gone for 2 days

Willie: literally nothing happened

Julie: lol

Flynn: ugh boriiiing

Flynn: still wanna do something after school tho - CD hunting?

Julie: sorryyyy i can't tonight - busy busy busy :/

Willie: i'm free!! let's do it 

Flynn: @julie i acc find it so rude that u have stuff to do like. u should be able to cancel all plans and vibe w/ us forever

Flynn: yaayyy @willie ur my new bff my ride or die my no. 1 <3<3

Willie: my dad can give us a ride if u want?

Julie: have fun <3<3

Willie: bet we'll have more fun than u ;)

****

“What about this?” Luke held up another sleeveless band tee to his chest as Reggie, Alex, and Bobby tilted their heads with consideration.

“Hmmm,” Reggie began. “Do you have anything with more…well, you know—”

“Sleeves?” Bobby finished for him, picking at a loose piece of thread on the Green Day t-shirt on Luke’s floor.

“Are all of your t-shirts all ripped up?” Alex asked, his expression nervous as he looked through Luke's pile of clothes. "What if there's a dress code..."

Luke’s eyes widened with sudden worry. “Wait,” his face paled, “do you think there might be?”

“Where’s she taking you?” Bobby asked, rolling his eyes as Luke responded simply with 'ice cream'. “Well, just assume it’s not formal, then. You really think she's gonna take you somewhere that fancy on a first date? For ice cream?”

“I hope not,” Alex smiled. “For Luke’s sake.” Reggie snorted, and Luke tossed the t-shirt into Alex’s face with a grin.

“Rude!” Luke protested. “And completely unhelpful – I don’t even know why I’m asking you guys. Have any of you even been on a date?”

Reggie sighed wistfully, resting a hand over his heart. “Lucy from choir, fifth grade.”

“Right,” Luke said. “How could I forget?”

“I’m sure she did,” Bobby snorted, and Reggie pounced, thwacking his back with one of Luke’s pillows – luckily, he was grinning as he did so, so there was no risk of mutiny breaking out. Alex laughed, helping Reggie out by reaching for one of the smaller cushions on Luke’s bed – a cute kiddie pillow in the shape of an electric guitar.

“Uh, guys?” Luke interrupted, folding his arms. “Guys!” he repeated, raising his voice. The three boys froze, halting their pillow fight and turning to Luke. “Still having a crisis over here! Can we call a truce until I have something to wear, please?”

“Hey, Alex,” Reggie began, pushing his hair out of his face, slightly pink from the ‘fight.’ “Didn't you have a date with Willie Covington last week? What did you wear to that?”

“What?” Luke, Alex, and Bobby all asked in unison, all similarly shocked by Reggie’s revelation.

“Dude,” Bobby asked with a wide smile, “are you dating Willie? Do you have a boyfriend? Why didn’t you tell us?!”

“One question at a time, Robert,” Luke stopped him. However, this was short-lived as he immediately spun back to Alex. “But, like…is Willie your boyfriend?”

“No,” Alex replied firmly, and Luke noted how Alex suddenly became very interested in his fingernails, picking at the skin around them. “No, he isn’t. We did…we went out together, but not, like, out out, so…”

“But do you want to go ‘out’ out with him?” Reggie asked.

“That’s irrelevant,” Alex sighed, “because he doesn’t like me like that, so I just need to get over it quickly so we can keep being friends.”

“Did you ask him out?” Luke pushed gently. “I mean, how do you know if you don’t—”

“I don’t need to, because he likes—” Alex paused, exhaling. “He likes someone else, and even though they don’t like Willie back, I know first-hand that that doesn’t make it easy to get over someone, so it’s done.”

“Who does he—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alex smiled. “Can we get back to your outfit, please? You’re meeting Julie in an hour and your only suggestions so far have been a messed up Green Day t-shirt and a messed up Rolling Stones t-shirt. If you miss your bus, you're basically screwed, dude.”

Luke’s eyebrows drew together, creasing his forehead into what his friends called the ‘Luke Face^TM' (patent pending). “They’re not ‘messed up’, they’re—”

“Customised,” Bobby finished for him. He had clearly been on the receiving end of this speech plenty of times throughout their friendship. “We know, okay? Just…won’t you be cold if you wear one of those, though?”

Rolling his eyes, Luke reached for another shirt, “Okay mom, I’ll just take a jacket. Hey – what kind of music do you think Julie likes?”

“You can ask her on your date,” Reggie reminded him. “Which you’re going to be late for, so just put on the Green Day shirt and leave!” He grinned, tossing the shirt back up to Luke, who caught it and pulled it over his head, messing up his hair in the process.

Then, Luke bent down to pull a box of beanies from the bottom of his wardrobe. “What do you think, boys? Hat or no hat?”

“You should wear your formal beanie,” Reggie stated, and Alex laughed.

“His ‘formal beanie’?” Alex bent his fingers into quotation marks.

Luke produced a black beanie from the box, pulling it onto his head.

“Oh, of course you have a formal beanie. Why am I even surprised anymore?”

****

Julie leant her back against the wall outside the ice cream parlour at exactly five thirty, kicking at the pavement with the heels of her trainers. They’d probably end up getting scuffed, and she’d have to patch up the purple sequins if she didn't cut it out, but it was a sort of nervous habit.

The first conversation she’d had with Luke hadn’t been one for the books, and she’d probably only succeeded the second time because she found it so easy to communicate via song. Maybe they could just communicate via song like she and Flynn had tried to do at school after they watched High School Musical for the first time.

It got old very fast, though – not for them, of course, but for everyone else involved.

Julie was determined not to check the time, and was using her last moments alone to attempt to relax - there was a reason she'd had her dad drop her off so far in advance. It was still fairly warm, the breeze of passing cars cooling Julie's face as she fiddled with the hem of her denim shorts. She found some comfort in the rush of the crowds, listening to the excitable chatter of tourists spotting the Hollywood sign in the distance for the first time. Julie had lived in L.A. for her entire life, so the novelty had kind of worn off for her, but there was something sort of nice about watching people be so excited to be there; it distracted her from the nerves twisting inside her gut, from the seeds of doubt that were attempting to squeeze into her thoughts.

In fact, her tourist-watching was such an effective grounding technique that she didn't notice that she was no longer alone; she was watching a small child have their picture taken next to The Muppets' star on the Walk of Fame when she felt someone tap her shoulder, almost leaping out of her skin.

"Gah!" Julie yelped before turning to find Luke standing beside her. "Oh, hi! Sorry, I was totally spaced out," she apologised, but Luke only shrugged before raising his hand in greeting.

“Hey," he said with a smile. “Sorry I’m a little late, traffic was literally hell."

Grinning, Julie followed Luke into the ice cream parlour, the little bell above the door twinkling as he pushed it open. “No worries, I've been keeping myself busy. It’s chill.”

“You know what else is chill?” Luke asked, waggling his eyebrows. Julie raised one of hers, inviting him to finish. “Ice cream, what flavour do you want?”

“That was so cheesy,” she grinned.

“I don’t think they do cheese,” he said, handing her a little laminated menu. It was sort of sticky, so she held it with the very tips of her fingers, gripping at the corners. “I’m having a scoop of banana and a scoop of coffee. My friend Reggie calls it 'Evil Banoffee'.”

“That sounds…okay, I can’t say it sounds good, but hey! Each to their own!” Julie laughed, scanning the menu. “I think I’ll have…a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of strawberry.”

“Classic!” Luke smiled, placing their menus back in the box on the wall as they joined the queue. The queue was pretty long, and left Julie rifling through her mental flashcards for conversation topics – it was going so well so far, but she didn’t think they could keep up ice cream chat for the entire evening.

“So,” she began as the queue crawled forward at a snail's pace, “do you come here often?” Luke chuckled, and Julie immediately winced at how corny that sounded coming out of her mouth. Even so, she managed to maintain her cool, simply laughing at herself before elaborating - “Which sounded like a crappy pick-up line, but I did genuinely mean, like, have you been here before?”

“No, actually,” he smiled, seemingly unfazed by Julie’s slip-up – maybe it wasn’t that bad, then. Chill, Julie. “It’s cool, though. And I do want to make the same ‘ice cream’ joke again, but I’ll spare you.”

“The queue’s pretty long,” Julie pointed out, “so you have plenty of time to write some new material.”

“To be honest, I think I’ll stick with writing lyrics,” Luke said. “I don’t think I’m destined for stand-up.”

“Were you working on something original in the music room yesterday?” Julie asked.

Nodding, Luke shoved his hands into his pockets, stepping forward as the person at the front of the queue was served. “Yeah – sorry about all that, by the way. I think I was accidently kinda rude to you and...I was just stressing about the song, and I get a little 'one-track-mind' about it, you know?"

"I've heard," Julie said, remembering the extra details that Willie gave about Luke courtesy of his conversation with Alex. "But hey, I don't think either of us were doing our best work, so...let's just try and forget all about it, deal?"

"Deal," Luke grinned, offering his hand for Julie to shake on it. She did, quickly dropping his hand afterwards, not wanting to accidentally allow the contact to linger for more than an acceptable amount of time - what if he thought it was weird?! Oh no, nervous Julie was back. Luke continued, pulling her back to reality: "Although - for the record - if you hadn't have run away so quickly, I might've said yes; you didn't give me a whole lot of time to process, you know?" Luke smiled, and Julie felt the cold metal of his rings slide against her palm as he reached for her hand. He didn’t link their fingers, giving Julie a chance to pull away – she didn’t.

“It would surprise you to hear that I don’t do the whole...asking out thing very often – and by very often, I mean never.”

"Nah," Luke said, waving a hand at her comment. "I think you did a pretty great job." She couldn't quite tell if his grin was teasing, genuine, or if that was just his default expression.

Julie raised an incredulous eyebrow. “Really? So you enjoy watching me embarrass myself?”

“Embarrass yourself?” Luke stared at Julie. “You were incredible! You’re seriously, like, one of the best performers I’ve ever watched, Julie. The way you can command a stage and an audience, the way you sing – it was…wow!” He breathed that final word, emphasising it with a gesture that said 'mind. blown.' 

Julie didn’t even bother stifling the grin that spread across her face at that – it was her first real performance in quite a while, after all. It was nice to get such a glowing review, a confirmation that she didn't look as foolish and/or terrified as she felt. “Thanks, I’m glad you didn’t think I was totally out of my mind.”

“Well,” Luke winked, “not totally.” Julie rolled her eyes, but not with any real irritation, and poked him gently in the elbow.

Julie and Luke finally reached the front of the queue, and whilst their ice creams were being put together, Julie steered the conversation back to song writing - "You know, if you're interested...maybe we could get together sometime and compare lyrics? I have some original stuff that I was working on with my mom, and nobody's really heard it yet, so maybe you'd like to-"

“Your mom writes music?” Luke’s eyes lit up as he jumped in, and Julie’s heart sank. It was her least favourite part about getting to know someone knew – the moment would come when she’d mention her mom offhandedly. She’d mention a childhood memory or a silly anecdote, and the other person would respond with that pesky present tense. Julie hated having to correct that, always tempted to let herself pretend for just a few moments that her mom was still around writing music, playing the piano in the studio, and coaching Julie through a tricky vocal section.

“She, uh…she used to, yeah,” Julie said carefully. “She passed away a couple of years back – she taught me everything I know.”

Julie chose not to look at Luke’s face as he processed this information, not sure that she could cope with the way that his smile would fall.

 She felt him squeeze her hand before saying, “I’m sorry for your loss.” His voice was soft as he continued, “If she taught you everything you know, she must’ve been pretty amazing.”

“She was,” Julie said with a nod, smiling despite the dull ache in her chest. In the few years since it had happened, it was getting easier to talk about, but the hurt was still there – it probably always would be. Still…Julie had the chance to keep her mom’s music alive, to show the world exactly how talented Rose Molina was. “Maybe you could come see her studio, I’ll play you one of her songs!”

“Really?” Luke asked. “I mean, I’d love that, obviously, but if it’s too personal, or…”

“Of course not,” Julie replied. “I think that the world deserves to hear how great she was.”

The ride in Luke's car back to Julie's was long and slow, the traffic on the L.A. roads seeming more than dedicated to foiling their plans. Still, they finally arrived at Julie's - Luke had been reassured that her family were at the movies, and he wouldn't be having a surprise meeting just yet - and when Julie opened the doors to her mom's garage, she was pretty sure that she saw Luke fall in love.

With the studio, obviously.

Obviously!

They both made a beeline for the piano, and Luke encouraged Julie to show her the song that they'd been discussing on the long walk from the metro station; he listened intently as Julie played, just as engrossed as he had been on the field only, this time, Julie was even closer, sharing the stool and watching him nod along to the rhythm. 

“Your mom’s lyrics,” Luke exhaled with wonder, holding the hand-written sheet music carefully between his thumb and fingers, “they’re incredible.”

“Yeah,” Julie nodded, brushing a piece of dust away from one of the black keys. “She wrote this for me before she died – it kind of got me back into playing again.”

“I’m not surprised – it’s a great song,” Luke flicked through the pages. “It really suits your voice – you know, I think you should perform with my band sometime. We have this song that would work great as a duet, and—”

“Woah, woah,” Julie interrupted. “You sure you don’t wanna consult with the guys before you start putting me on tracks? I don’t want them to hate me.”

Luke shook his head with disbelief, “Julie, you’re amazing – and they all agree! They heard you sing, believe me, they’ll want to again.”

“Well, if you’re sure, you can ask them and get back to me.”

As Luke poked at the keys, slowly playing through the melody and testing out a few harmonies, Julie’s eyes drifted across the studio, falling upon the little box of fairy lights and paper butterflies that Flynn had dropped off yesterday afternoon.

“You know,” Julie found herself saying before she could even consider the implications, “you and your friends should come to my birthday party on the 28th!”

“Seriously? Like…a second date?” Luke checked, smirking. Julie suddenly became very aware of how small the piano stool was, how close they were sitting – had been sitting since they arrived back at the garage. "Assuming that this isn't our second date, of course."

"Did the first one end?" Julie asked, tilting her head.

"We switched locations," Luke stated with a shrug.

"Right, right," Julie nodded before adding. "Besides, I think that we can do a second date before the end of the month - if you can pencil me into your busy, busy schedule."

Luke grinned, grabbing his phone from where he'd rested it on top of Rose's piano. "I actually was thinking of going to a gig next Friday," he explained, pulling up the website for a concert venue in Pasadena. "The guys are busy, and I thought that maybe..."

"Yes!" Julie grinned, recognising the act as a local group that she'd seen on social media. "I'm in!"

"Perfect! So," Luke waggled his eyebrows, and Julie couldn't decide if it was seriously cringe, or seriously cute (probably the latter), "second date sorted - and your party can be the third?"

“A third date with my dad, my aunt, my brother, and all of our close personal friends present?” Julie raised an eyebrow. "But... does that mean that you guys are gonna come?"

“Well,” Luke paused, pretending to think, “I guess me and the boys could do with a break from band practice. Okay, sure – count us in.”

Julie assumed that the party would involve a lot of dancing around Flynn, hoping that she wouldn’t clock that anything was going on. It was a miracle that Flynn hadn’t yet – she seemed pretty distracted at the moment, anyway. She was so lost in her thoughts lately that she hadn’t even found an opportunity to complain about Carrie this week. Something about this made Julie feel incredibly pleased with herself – her birthday was gearing up to be the best night of the year. 

****

“So…” Reggie linked arms with Alex as they walked. They’d realised that they only lived around the block from one another, so had parted ways with Bobby when Luke left, leaving them alone to walk the rest of the way together.

Alex waited for Reggie to say something else, turning only to find himself being stared at with an expression that said ‘I know something...’

“Yes?” Alex encouraged, eyebrows high as he stared at Reggie. “Do you have something to say, or…”

Reggie shrugged. “I don’t know – do you think I have something to say?”

“Okay,” Alex said, “I’m confused.”

Sighing, Reggie finally gave in. “You’re sad about Willie and I’m trying to be supportive but I don’t want to push!”  Alex chuckled despite the mention of…the ‘W’ word causing his insides to twist into knots. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I…I am, it’s just-" Alex paused, inhaling before continuing, "Have you ever convinced yourself that something is going to happen so much that when it doesn’t, you can’t even handle the disappointment?” Alex asked, hoping that Reggie wouldn’t laugh at him – well, not in a cruel way. “I pretty much cried all weekend.”

“Oh,” Reggie’s shoulders deflated. “Is that why you cancelled band practice? I thought you were sick.”

“Well, you know when you cry so much you think you are going to be sick?" Alex said, grimacing. "My sister’s spent most of her time home so far trying to distract me so I don’t get all sad again.”

Reggie nodded with sage understanding, “I think I probably cried that much when Han Solo died. Which might seem like less of a big deal, but Star Wars really is that serious to me," he explained, pointing his finger with emphasis.

This made Alex smile, “I know.”

“You are allowed to be sad about it, Alex,” Reggie continued. “You’re allowed to cry. I have tissues!”

“Thanks, Reg,” Alex answered sincerely - he really did have great friends. “I think that the need to cry has mostly passed, though.”

Reggie's face lit up, beaming with a new idea. “If you like, I can distract you for the rest of the night, just to make sure! Parents love me; I’m polite, I’m funny, and I always help with the dishes.” Alex appreciated Reggie’s offer, but Alex knew that it couldn’t go down well.

First – Alex’s parents would immediately notice how affectionate Reggie was and, subsequently, immediately give Alex crap for it.

Second – they would never let them go up to Alex’s room alone, which meant that he’d be forced to hang out in the living room (hell is empty and all the devils are there, specifically.)

Third – refer to the above.

“Thanks, but...hey, maybe we should go somewhere together,” Alex suggested as a much happier alternative. “Maybe that’ll distract me from…well, you know.”

Reggie's face became even brighter, his eyes wide. "There's this awesome crêpe place that you need to try, they do the most incredible deserts, milkshakes, toppings..." he began to babble, reciting what seemed to be a detailed description of the entire menu off by heart.

They stopped by Reggie's house to pick up his car and, given full control of the aux cord and singing along to his playlist with Reggie, Alex was finally relieved of some of the tension that he had been carrying in his shoulders for the past few days.

****

"Did I really miss absolutely nothing at school these past couple of days?" Flynn asked, rifling through a stack of CD's, stopping occasionally to lift one out and read the track list. Meanwhile, Willie chewed on a piece of gum, his elbows resting on one of the store shelves as he inspected each album that Flynn paused at.

"Absolutely nothing," he shrugged. "I guess...you're just the most interesting person at Los Feliz - what are even supposed to do when you're not there?" 

Flynn laughed, "So true, Willie," she agreed before pausing for a moment to check the price of one of the albums. "Thanks for coming out today, by the way - I've had a pretty bad couple of days, so..."

"Is everything okay?" Willie asked, scrunching his eyebrows and scanning Flynn's expression. Surely it couldn't have anything to do with...

No.

And even if it was, well, the first hurdle would always be hard to overcome. He'd done her a favour on Friday, for sure.

Flynn shook her head before smiling, as if shaking off her own thoughts. "Nah, it's nothing - I was just pretty bummed about...missing school. I don't wanna fall behind in art, you know?"

Willie nodded, rolling the gum over in his mouth with the tip of his tongue. "Is everything going okay with...your art class?" he asked carefully, gently treading around the subject but also hoping that she'd be able to pick up what he was putting down.

Flynn's forehead creased with confusion, "Yeah?" she responded, as though she was questioning Willie's motives for asking. "Art's my favourite subject."

"I know," Willie replied, starting to flick through a different pile of CDs, "I just know that you were pretty pissed about having to sit with Carrie. She's not, uh...giving you a hard time, right?"

It was risky to ask about Carrie, knowing that Flynn knew that Willie knew that - well, Flynn knew what Willie thought he knew, and he didn't know how true everything he thought he knew was, but...wow. That's confusing, huh?

Still, Willie could extend a helping hand to a friend in need, regardless of his part in some Flynn-and-Carrie related meddling.

Flynn snorted, bringing the back of her hand up to her mouth in some attempt to muffle her laughter. "Carrie? Giving me a hard time? I don't think she knows how to not give everyone around her a hard time," Flynn responded. "But, uh...I don't know. I guess I'm just, you know, rising above it all. I'm mostly just trying to ignore her, I think."

"Right," Willie nodded. "That's probably for the best," he agreed. Then, he decided to test something out - just to see how Flynn would react. "Maybe...maybe all of the back and forth with Carrie this past year has made it hard for you to move on - maybe now's a good time to burn the last bridge completely. Cut her out of your life - that way, you never have to speak to her again. Gone. Sorted." Willie mimed brushing dust off his hands, watching Flynn's expression carefully as he said this.

He had to admit, he was pretty pleased with the way that Flynn's eyes widened, her lips parting slightly as though she was about to protest. "No, I-" she began, stopping before she could say any more. "I'm hungry," she declared. "Let's go get ice cream."

Willie was about to agree before recognition pinged in his mind, "No!" he yelped, making Flynn start. Too jumpy - whoops... "No, I just mean...uh, I think I might be lactose intolerant!" he announced, taking the first excuse his brain provided for him. 

"Wait, really? Since when?" Flynn asked, surprised. "We got pizza the other day."

"Yeah! Yeah," Willie nodded, realising that he really hadn't considered his lie for long enough. She could also bring up all of the iced latte's she watched him drink, the extra cheese he would get on his pasta, the creamy sauce he always chose when they went out for dinner... "I actually think it's like...you know, I had some ice cream the other day and - let me tell you, it was not pretty," he pulled a face, scrunching his nose, hoping that this was non-descript but concerning enough that Flynn wouldn't want to know more.

"Right," she grimaced, her own nose wrinkling, "fair enough. Crêpes?"

"Perfect!" Willie grinned, secretly exhaling with relief as Flynn took her CD to the counter to pay. 

Nice save, Willie silently congratulated himself, mentally patting himself on the back.

Sure, he wouldn't be able to have whipped cream on his crêpe, but it was worth it for the sake of not jeopardising the mission - or at least that was what he was telling himself.

The little café was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday afternoon; the booths were mostly taken by families with young children, clearly just let out from school, groups of tweens taking pictures of their orders on phones with dangly charms, and...oh.

Perched on one of the high tables, tapping the heel of his foot on the metal leg of his stool, was Alex. It was almost as if Willie's mind had known to search the room for him, his eyes drawn to the back of Alex's head like magnets.

"Oh," Flynn said, following the direction of his stare, not registering his shock, "Reggie and Alex are here - do you think we're acquainted enough to squeeze onto their table?" Flynn asked - the café was full to the brim, and their only chance of getting their coveted crêpes was to mosey on over to the empty seats at Alex and Reggie's little round table.

This was fine! What a great way to extend a hand to Alex and overcome the awkwardness of the past few days; this was actually a blessing.

And that was just one of the many things that Willie was trying to convince himself were true!

Even so, he still found himself following Flynn to the boys' table; they didn't have their crêpes yet, still scanning the menu as Reggie pointed at each individual item, seemingly giving Alex a detailed review of every option.

"Hey, gu-uys!" Flynn sang, waving as she approached, resting her elbow on the edge of the table. "Can we join you?"

"Hey Willie and...Flynn, right?" Reggie checked - obviously Willie knew Reggie a little better now than he had last week, considering they'd been bandmates for, like, five entire minutes, so it wasn't too weird. He and Flynn nodded.

Willie watched, observing the shift in Alex's expression as he registered his presence - recognition, nerves, and eventually, acceptance. Alex gave Willie a small smile before reaching to pull out one of the stools under the table. An olive branch, maybe?

"Sure!" Reggie answered, shuffling his stool across a little to create more room at the table. Willie could've sworn an actual lightbulb popped up above his head, though, as he flicked his widening eyes towards Alex. "You know what? You guys decide what you want, and me and Flynn will go order - Willie and Alex can guard the table!"

There was an entire, silent, conversation that seemed to take place between Reggie and Alex upon this suggestion being made. On Reggie's part, a quick waggle of his incredibly flexible eyebrows and a wink. On Alex's part, eyes wide as dinner plates and a short, subtle movement of the head that seemed to pretty effectively communicate '?!?!' 

"Sounds good," Flynn shrugged. After a quick final look at the menu, everyone's orders were decided, and Willie was left alone with Alex, determined not to distract himself by pretending to be checking his messages.

"So," Willie began, knowing full well that he had nothing to complete his sentence with.

"Uhh," Alex offered. It wasn't quite a word, but a noise was better than being completely ghosted. 

So it seemed that Willie would have to take the first major step - okay, no problem! He could do that.

This was fine.

"Alex," he began, reaching for one of the paper napkins on the table to tear into little strips - for moral support, obviously. "I just wanted to say...I really didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, you know, I thought-"

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, a puzzled expression furrowing his brow and curving his mouth into a small frown. 

Willie blinked. Then he opened his mouth, promptly closing it again. 

He blinked again. 

Was Alex just being polite? Probably.

No. Willie's internal monologue was firm - no more assumption. Just say it!

"You know?" he continued, even though Alex really looked like he didn't know. "I sent you that playlist, and it made you feel uncomfortable and...I don't know, I guess I was just confused because we were talking so much before, and-"

Alex sighed, running his fingers through his hair - Willie wondered whether it was soft.

It looked soft. 

"Willie," Alex said gently, "the playlist didn't make me uncomfortable, I was just...look, you have a crush on Luke, and that's fine, and-"

"I have a what on who?!" Willie exclaimed, turning the heads of a few of the other patrons - this time, the stage voice wasn't even on purpose. He just genuinely never expected to hear that particular sequence of words leave Alex's mouth. The concept that Alex was presenting as fact wasn't even one that had occurred to Willie at any point in any capacity. 

Alex swallowed, now looking very unconvinced of his own declaration. "Well...you know," he said with a shrug, as if that explained...anything. If there was one thing in this world that Willie definitely did not know? It was that.

"Uh, no," Willie said, shaking his head, "I don't actually. Do you think you could catch me up?" Willie's heart was in his mouth, a million different possibilities bouncing around his head, as though someone had spilled a jar of ping pong balls in his brain and he was grasping to catch them but he didn't even know where to start and why were they even there in the first place?! 

"Well I mean...you mentioned Luke and you had, like, a look," Alex began to explain, his voice slightly more high-pitched than usual as his nerves seemingly became more and more frayed. "And then when we saw each other at the bus stop, you, well, I mean, you asked me for his number, so I was like...oh no!" Alex flung his hands into the air, waving them to mime 'panic'. Realising what he'd said, Alex's face flushed pink. "Not that, you know...not that you're not allowed to ask for people's numbers, obviously, that wouldn't really be any of my..."

Alex trailed off, but Willie was barely able to process what he was hearing. Now it was his turn to run fingers through his hair, tucking it behind his ears before rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Alex," Willie said, slowly. "I didn't want Luke's number."

Blinking, Alex pulled his brows together. "Why did you ask for it, then?"

If Willie wasn't experiencing extreme levels of stress, mostly residual from a very confusing and difficult couple of days, he might've laughed. Chuckled, even. "Alex," he repeated, "you know how I, like, helped Julie put together that whole...elaborate date proposal thing at school yesterday?" Alex nodded. "Why would I do that if I was crushing on Luke?"

Alex shrugged, the pink in his cheeks now closer to crimson. "You seem like a good friend."

"I..." Willie couldn't believe it. It was so simple. And yet so, so ridiculous. "I was asking for Luke's number...because I was trying to set up him and Julie."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Willie nodded, "oh."

"Well." Alex's responses were still very much monosyllabic, and Willie could've sworn that he could hear the creaking of the cogs in his brain as everything started to make sense.

"You know," Willie offered two entire syllables, "I'm sure that, one day, we'll be able to laugh about this."

"Maybe one day," Alex practically whispered. "One day in, like, twenty years. God," his shoulders sunk as he planted his face in his hands, "I have been crying...all weekend...about nothing." As he admitted this, he chuckled, but there was a tiredness to it that made Willie's heart twist.

"Oh, Alex," he breathed, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. "Why didn't you talk to me?"

"That's a really good question." Alex squeezed Willie's hand, before laughing again, "If we're...you know, talking...I guess now would be a good time to tell you that...that I sorta really like you, Willie," Alex admitted, and Willie was almost knocked clean off of his stool with surprise from how forward he was with the admission. Glancing towards where Flynn and Reggie were queueing, he figured that they still had a few minutes. "Which is, like, okay, can't believe I just said that, but...but we're talking, so-"

Willie allowed the smile twitching at the corners of his mouth to spread across his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes and dimpling his cheeks. "That's a relief," he said, watching as Alex's own mouth curved upwards, "'cause I sorta really like you, too."

Alex's smile quickly fell, though, and Willie couldn't even begin to imagine what he'd managed to conjure up in his mind this time - but he was ready to un-conjure it. 

Still, the half-exasperated, half-despairing look in Alex's eyes didn't give him much hope. "Gah!" he groaned. "You do know that I know about that little...that little pact you have with Julie and Flynn, right?" Alex asked, and Willie didn't quite know what to think.

How did Alex know about that?!

"And that's just a whole mess," Alex continued, rambling nervously but still keeping his hand tucked inside Willie's, "because now Julie's asked out Luke and you like me, but I know that nothing can happen until Flynn-"

"Hold on, man," Willie stopped him. "How do you know all of this? It's not, like, widely known stuff." Willie's grin widened, "unless you've been researching my eligibility," he teased.

Alex rolled his eyes, the irritated gesture betrayed by the smile that had crept back onto his face. "No! Carrie told me in the cafeteria when we met-"

"When you nearly choked on a hot dog?" Willie checked. He knew exactly what day Alex meant, he just wanted to bring it up again. It was a good day.

"Funny," Alex huffed. "Look, Willie, this whole thing seems kinda messy, and I'm not sure how-"

Alex stopped himself before Willie could, clearly registering the pleased look on Willie's face, the familiar waggle of the eyebrows.

"Trust me," Willie said, "that's not going to be a problem for much longer."

Willie let go of Alex's hand as he saw Reggie and Flynn turn away from the cashier, standing up to take some plates and cups of soda from them to bring to the table.

Him and Alex would have a lot to discuss later...it looked like 'Operation Flarrie' was about to gain a brand new agent...

Chapter Text

Alex held Carrie’s bag open as she grabbed a few things from her locker to put inside. After managing to squeeze her sketchbook in between a physics textbook and her copy of Romeo and Juliet, she zipped it up and took it from Alex.

“Did you get any more work done on your project?” He asked, following her down the hall towards their Wednesday afternoon English Lit class. “I know you were sort of struggling with it.”

“I wasn’t struggling,” Carrie corrected hastily. “I just think it’s a silly assignment – I mean, how many times can I draw myself and make it interesting, right? You’re so lucky you don’t take art.”

“It’s an optional class, Carrie,” Alex reminded her. “You don’t have to take it.”

Stumped, Carrie rolled her eyes. “Well, duh, I don’t mind it for the rest of the year. The first assignment is always just a total drag.” Nice save. God, she was not thinking straight lately.

"Do you think that, maybe, I don't know," Alex began, dancing very gracefully around whatever suggestion he was about to make. "Do you think that there might be a reason that you take art?" he asked, looked pointedly at Carrie as they joined the queue outside of their English room. His eyebrows were raised, his mouth titled upwards. He looked like he knew something. Or like he thought he knew something.

Carrie stared blankly at him, not even remotely aware of what he was putting down and, as a result, completely unable to pick it up. "Well, yes, Alex. I just said - I don't mind it for the rest of the year. I like painting, I just hate self portraits."

"Right, right," Alex nodded. "If you say so." Carrie didn't miss his odd tone, but she didn't have time to interrogate him and figure out what exactly his deal was, as the bell announcing the start of next period rang. She just sighed, shook her head, and decided that she could deal with him later.

They filed into English class, taking their seats right behind Luke and Bobby – Carrie was not pleased about this, and she planned on making that repeatedly clear.

“Hey, guys!” Bobby swivelled slightly in his chair, tilting his head to get a better view of his seat neighbours. “Did you start your presentations yet?”

“Why?” Carrie asked with suspicion. “You’re not copying, Bobby, we worked—”

“Jeez, Carrie I’ve literally almost finished mine! I was just asking!”

“Okay, break it up,” Luke interrupted, “we don’t want a Capulet and Montague situation, do we?” The smile on his face was sickeningly smug.

“Do you want us to clap because you actually read the play, Patterson?” Carrie asked with a snarky tone and a curled lip.

Luke paused for a moment, tapping his chin. “Umm…yeah, that’d be great actually,” he said, beaming at his ability to drive Carrie up the wall. This particular group of boys didn't have to try very hard.

“Well actually,” Alex interrupted, deciding to betray her past perception of him as the only sensible one in the group, “they’d probably be, like, Tybalt and Juliet, or Benvolio or Romeo because they were actually cousins, so—”

“Yeah, but they weren’t feuding, so that makes no sense—”

“As much as I’m enjoying this intellectual debate,” Bobby cut off Luke swiftly, “I’m actually interested in another Juliet,” he said, waggling his eyebrows in Luke’s direction. Carrie didn't think much of Luke's flushed cheeks, the roll of his eyes.

“Yes!” Carrie agreed with exaggerated enthusiasm. “So why don’t you boys turn around,” she made a little circle with her forefinger, “and get to work on finishing your presentations, m’kay?”

“Not that Juliet,” Bobby rolled his eyes. “I’m talking about Luke’s date!”

“Oh,” Alex’s eyebrows raised with mild surprise, “I didn’t know Julie was short for Juliet.”

Carrie scoffed, “It’s not, it’s just Julie.” It was only then that she actually processed what Alex had said. “Wait – Luke, you’re with Julie? That makes no sense!” Alex's eyes widened as she said this; Carrie suspected that if she strained her ears just enough, she'd hear his internal monologue of overthinking. 

Luke motioned for her to shush. "First of all, I don't know if I should take that as an insult, but I’m not—” he dropped his voice to a whisper. “We’re not together, we just went out, okay? We haven’t put any labels on anything yet. And...well, we might be going out again, but-” Whatever he was about to say, it went unfinished. 

“Hmmm,” Carrie hummed, nodding suspiciously. Was Luke not aware? Did Luke just…not know that Julie wouldn’t ever be anything more to him than a 'date’ because of her ridiculous pact with Flynn and Willie?

"Right," Alex nodded before swallowing quickly. "Nobody's together! Absolutely nobody, because that would just be...well, I mean, you know," he was rambling, and Carrie detected something of a guilty conscience. It was showing in the way that he rapidly tapped the edge of the table with the rubber-end of his pencil, bouncing his knee and making the whole table vibrate.

"Are you good, dude?" Bobby asked, reaching over to place his hand over Alex's , 

"Fine!" Alex replied, too quickly and too loudly before slamming his textbook open. "But, hey, back to work everyone! No more questions about the fact that Julie and Luke are not dating, because nobody is, right?"

Alex was acting strangely, and it had something to do with Julie...did Luke know about her contractual obligation not to date him? Had Alex not told him?

But, of course, that was none of Carrie’s business.

As much as she loved stirring up a little trouble, she wasn’t invested enough in this seemingly messy situation to get involved. And besides, maybe Flynn and Willie both had dates to the Halloween Ball already…surely not. Flynn wouldn’t go with someone else, right?

Not that it mattered! Flynn could do whatever she wanted.

Carrie literally didn’t even care. Like she said - she had absolutely no investment in this situation. She had no stakes in any of this, as she was completely removed from and uninterested by the whole situation. Obviously.

****

“Willie, do you think I’m a bad friend?” Julie asked as Willie passed her a worksheet filled with equations.

“Have I missed something?” Willie asked, his brow creasing with confusion.

“It’s just…I just feel awful, you know?” Julie said. “Keeping things from Flynn, I mean. We have that whole...no secrets thing.”

Willie rested a hand on Julie’s thigh, stilling the nervous bouncing of her knee. “I thought you said it was fine because you were doing it for Flynn – oh no,” he interrupted himself, “was your date with Luke a total bust?” He moved his hand to her forearm, squeezing it gently to offer comfort.

He was surprised to see Julie shake her head, her mouth twitching upwards at the corner despite the sadness in her eyes. “No. It was really nice, actually. Nicer than nice, but...but that only made me feel worse because, I mean…how would you feel if someone asked you out to work around an inconvenient clause in a pact, huh?”

“Do you like him?" Willie asked, a simple question with a simple answer. It wasn't the question of whether she liked Luke at this stage, it was the question of how that would factor into every other aspect of the situation.

"I do," Julie answered. That was the easy part. "But...but I'm still dragging him into this whole thing, and how is that fair?" Julie exhaled, picking up her pen and attempting to distract herself with some maths equations. Unfortunately, quadratic equations weren't her usual choice for stress release. Now she was getting a headache on top of the funny feeling in her chest.

Willie turned to his own worksheet - he, however, had chosen not to pay attention to the questions, doodling little pictures on the edges of his paper instead. "I mean," he began, shading in a little skateboard, "you could just tell him. We need all the help we can get, right?"

“What?!” Julie cried, earning her a warning glance and a ‘shh!’ from her maths teacher. “What?” she tried again, hissing with a whisper. "Have you ever heard that analogy about too many cooks in a kitchen? The more people that know, the more likely we are to fail. We can't take risks like that."

Julie was not a fan of the expression that appeared on Willie's face - it was a real 'blink and you miss it' moment, a quick twitch of the muscles in his neck, his mouth twisting into a shape that said 'whoops!' Something of a guilt-ridden grimace, an apology waiting to happen. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Willie asked, but not even his nonchalant shrug could set his expression back to neutral. 

"That face."

"What face? This is just my face," Willie lied. He wasn't doing a great job.

"Nuh uh," Julie protested, shaking her head as she poked his bicep with the clickable end of her pen. "It's your "I've done something bad and I'm trying too hard to make sure nobody finds out" face, actually. I know it well."

Willie sighed, admitting defeat as he began to scribble on his worksheet, actually attempting to work out the answers. Funny - he was suddenly very interested in getting his work done. "Okay," he said, "so, before I tell you this you have to understand that I was just caught in the moment. I was in a good mood and I sort of...lost my inhibitions. Okay?"

"Oka-ay..." Julie replied, voice thick with suspicion as she watched Willie gulp.

"Okay. So, I may or may not have told Alex the entire plan and encouraged him to work on Carrie."

Julie blinked at the desk. "Oh." 

"I'm sorry! I just...I found out that he'd totally misread the whole situation, and I wanted to make it right with him!" Willie rambled, tugging at a loose strand of hair as he avoided Julie's eyes. "It seemed like a good idea."

"Right," Julie answered with a nod.

"You okay?" Willie checked. "It's not like he's going to let onto Carrie that anything's up, right?" It was definitely meant to be a rhetorical question, but Julie was sure that Willie wouldn't say no to her offering some reassurance. 

She wasn't sure if she could. Alex could be saying anything to Carrie right now! Sure, she and Willie weren't the most subtle, but it had been working out so far!

"Right," she repeated, whether she believed it or not. "This is fine!"

****

The smell of paint fumes was starting to give Flynn one hell of a headache, and her wrist was cramping from gripping the fine-details paintbrush between her fingers and her thumb. Still, she was pleased with the progress she’d made. The first in the class to move onto canvas, Flynn had been given an easel to stand next to her usual workspace, completely lost in her flow until suddenly, a collective gasp from her tablemates shocked her out of her concentration.

“What?” She spun on her heel to find the others watching in horror as a glass jar of muddy looking paint thinner just about avoided tipping all over the full pages of Flynn’s sketchbook, the disaster prevented at the very last minute by Carrie, who had lurched forward to grab the jar before it could destroy all of Flynn’s hard work. As the entire table breathed a sigh of relief before seeing that it was safe to return to their own projects, Flynn simply gaped at Carrie.

“What?” Carrie asked, setting the jar straight before nudging it to the side, away from Flynn’s sketchbook and on top of a dry paper towel.

“Thanks,” Flynn smiled as she exhaled. It didn’t feel stiff this time, but maybe that was just because she was seriously relieved that almost two weeks of hard work hadn’t gone to waste. “I appreciate that.”

“Okay,” Carrie muttered, reaching for her pencil again.

“No, seriously,” Flynn continued. “I really owe you one – I would’ve been a mess if that got…well, messed up." Flynn chuckled.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Carrie replied, adding a half-hearted eye roll for good measure. “Just…forget about it, okay?”

Flynn snorted. “What? Wouldn’t want anyone to see you doing something nice for me, huh?” she teased, tempted for some reason to see if she could get a smile out of Carrie – even an irritated smirk would do. She was…testing the waters.

“Look,” Carrie snapped, seeming flustered as the tips of her ears and her cheekbones became dusted with blush. “I didn’t do it because…it was nothing, okay? It’s really not that serious.”

Flynn dropped it, but still couldn’t help the feeling of satisfaction that carried her through the rest of the period.

At pack-up time, Flynn and Carrie were the last to finish cleaning their workstations, which was surprising, considering Carrie had only been working with the one pencil. She had been sharpening it a lot, though, leaving shavings all over the desk and the floor surrounding her stool. As Carrie bent down to sweep up the mess with a dustpan and brush, Flynn leaned over the desk to look at Carrie’s final draft.

“It looks good, you know?” Flynn commented. “I’ve seen you redraft it about five times already, you should just go for it.”

“If I wanted art advice,” Carrie said, her voice muffled beneath the desk, “I’d ask Miss Jeffries.”

Flynn huffed, irritated – why did every conversation with Carrie have to turn into a confrontation? Could the other girl not see that she was trying? “I wasn’t giving you tips, I was giving you a compliment. Take it or don’t, but your portrait is good.”

“Fine...thanks.”

That would do.

“Plus, I think if you throw away another page from that book, someone might think that you don’t care about the trees,” Flynn joked. “Can you imagine that headline? ‘Lead singer of Dirty Candi, Carrie Wilson, hates trees!’ – it’s a PR nightmare waiting to happen. You sure you're ready for that press conference?”

The snort of laughter that came from underneath the desk almost sounded genuine. “Right,” Carrie said as she resurfaced, tipping her pile of pencil shavings into the bin. “I’ll bear that in mind.”

“You really should,” Flynn said as Carrie picked up the last of her things to shove into her bag.

“Bye, Flynn.”

“I’d be a great manager, you know!” Flynn called after Carrie, who was already out the door.

“Bye, Flynn,” Carrie repeated with emphasis, her voice echoing against the now-empty halls of the school.

Flynn, with a pleased grin, tossed her own rubbish into the bin. As she did, she saw it fall onto a piece of paper – one of the pieces that Carrie had discarded earlier.

It was slightly crumpled, half-heartedly scrunched up into a little ball. Flynn reached into the bin, shaking off a few pencil shavings before flattening out the paper onto the desk.

It was a good portrait, a little rough around the edges with some unfinished lines but still, it was almost a perfect likeness. Folding it carefully, Flynn slotted it into the front pocket of her overalls before packing her own bag and heading for the door.

Julie was waiting for her at the bus stop with Willie, both of them looking strangely nervous.

“You guys okay? Did I miss something while you were in maths?” she asked as she perched herself on the edge of the plastic bus stop seats.

Willie sighed. “Nope. I think maths just has that effect on everyone.”

“But,” Julie said, “we don’t have to think about maths anymore because we have a fun evening ahead of us, right guys?” Her smile, much like her optimism, seemed forced, but Flynn would take it.

“Yes! Willie, did you remember to pick up the supplies I messaged about?”

“Yep,” he nodded. “My bedroom is filled with more sparkly tights than a ballet studio during Nutcracker season, and my dad donated some old wire coat hangers.”

“You sure we shouldn’t just buy some fairy wings?” Julie asked. “I mean, I love getting my craft on, but I don’t know how I feel about wire cutters. Seems kinda dangerous.”

“Come on, Jules!” Flynn stuck out her bottom lip. “I was so excited for crafts night – I feel like we’ve hardly seen each other all week!”

“And besides,” Willie added, “how hard could it possibly be?”

****

So, as it turned out, it could actually be very hard.

Sitting cross-legged on Willie’s bedroom floor, surrounded by stretchy, shimmery fabric and stick-on rhinestones, Julie used all of her force to try and bend her coat hanger, but it just wouldn’t do what she wanted!

“Why. Won’t. It. Budge?” She said, struggling to get just the right shape – who knew it would be such a pain to make butterfly wings out of a coat hanger?! “Is it too late to change the theme to something like…I don’t know, ‘wear your favourite jeans?’”

“If you want to lug all of those lights, fake flowers, plastic vines, and butterfly garlands back to the store then sure,” Flynn teased, although she too seemed to be having trouble with her own wing.

“Willie, is it too late to just find your old Puck costume? That would be one less pair of wings to make.”

Willie snorted. “No way I would still fit in that, I was eleven.”

“And you just looked absolutely adorable, William!” Willie’s dad’s voice made Julie jump, causing her to accidentally scratch the pad of her thumb with the end of the wire. She wasn’t scared of Willie’s dad, but he did have a habit of just…popping up where you’d least expect him. She never heard him coming – no wonder he did so well in the magician business. “Are you kids ordering food or am I cooking?”

“We’re ordering,” Willie explained. “You want something?”

“Are you getting something nice?”

“We’re ordering burgers, Mr. Covington,” Julie explained, tugging on her coat hanger.

Turning his nose up, Willie’s dad shook his head. “I’ll pass. Here, give that to me.” He took the coat hanger from Julie, bending it slowly at the corners that she had marked off. “Just needed the magic touch,” he said, handing it back to her.

“Nice one,” Willie grinned. “Looks like making all those balloon animals payed off, huh?”

Julie stifled a giggle as Mr Covington’s mouth fell open in horrified shock. “I am a magician, William, not a party clown – you know, you really ought to—”

“Okay, Dad, we’re ordering food now so you should leave before your snob senses start tingling,” Willie interrupted, grinning with delight as Caleb fell into a rant that was no doubt a very common one in the Covington household.

Willie’s dad left, muttering under his breath about balloon animals and disrespectful teenagers, and the three of them collapsed into giggles, falling on top of one another as they laughed. Flynn rested her head in Julie's lap as she continued with her wing-making.

“I missed you guys,” Flynn grinned, finally managing to make a bend in her own hanger.

“Flynn,” Julie smiled, leaning back on her hands as she rested against Willie's side, “you only missed two days of school this week - I promise nothing interesting happened.”

“No, I know, I know,” Flynn continued, “But still...I missed you." She turned to Julie, pointing a teasing finger at her. "Maybe if someone wasn't so busy all the time...I'll be having words with your dad for keeping you away from me!"

Julie gulped. “A-at least we have the party to look forward to, right?” she reminded Flynn, hoping to avoid any further questions about her recent after-school plans.

It wasn’t exactly lying, right? To avoid the truth. The ends would justify the means.

There was a way to speed up the whole thing, though. To make it so that Julie didn’t have to lie about Luke anymore.

****

Luke’s phone buzzed, and he grinned as he saw Julie’s contact picture pop up. He opened the text, trying to ignore the interested look on his mom’s face as he smiled at the screen.

Julie: hey! weird question…

Luke: try me :)

Julie: do you think you might be able to get bobby to bring carrie with him to the party this weekend? idk if you know but we used be like. really close back in the day, and I guess I just want to extend the olive branch, yknow?

Luke: idk how easily carrie’ll be convinced, but sure, I’ll give it a go x

Julie: ty!! looking forward to tomorrow, btw x

Luke: me too!!

He finished typing before shoving his phone back into the pocket of his jeans.

“Who are you texting?” His mom asked, not looking up from her knitting.

“Nobody,” Luke shrugged.

“You sure?” She glanced sideways at Luke in a way that somehow managed to get under his skin.

“You know, you could try not to make it sound like you’re accusing me of something all the time,” he said huffily, moving to get up from the sofa.

“I never said—” she started before stopping to inhale. “Luke, I was just expressing an interest. I’m your mom, I want to know what’s going on in your life.”

“I’m just texting Julie, okay?” he muttered. “I’m not even messaging about the band, if that’s what you’re asking.”

His mom perked up…immediate regret. “Julie? You’ve never mentioned a Julie before.”

“Uh…yeah, we met this week, I’m going to her birthday party on the 28th – oh, yeah, I was meant to check that that was cool.”

She nodded, “It’s fine. Are the boys going?”

“If I say yes will you change your mind?” Luke challenged, and his mom sighed.

“I don’t have anything against your friends, Luke. They’re all lovely boys – I just want to make sure that you have someone to travel with because your father and I are at the theatre that night.”

“Oh,” Luke said. “Yeah, right. No, we’re all going together…actually, I think that Bobby’s cousin might be giving us a ride.”

Carrie didn’t know that yet, but Bobby could probably figure out some way to bribe her into it.

****

Flynn: have u started ur painting yet?

Flynn: u have ur read receipts on. btw :)

Carrie: who is this??

Flynn: u deleted my number? cold.

Carrie: obvs. we're not friends

Flynn: right, okay. but have u started ur painting yet?

Carrie: none of your business, taylor.

Carrie: but. no, i haven't 

Carrie: it's not ready yet

Flynn: are any of us reeeeaaaally ever ready?

Flynn: rlly makes u think...

Flynn: just start it. your plan looks great

Carrie: whats ur angle here?

Flynn: being nice

Flynn: i recommend it

Carrie: if you think you owe me bc i saved your painting earlier. you don't

Flynn: ur very difficult, wilson. had anyone ever told u that?

Carrie: bye, flynn

Flynn: if u want me to go, u can block my number any time :)

Flynn: but. 

Flynn: huh. funny - i can still text u...

Carrie: if i promise to start my painting, will you get off my back? 

Flynn: i'll think abt it

Carrie: ...

****

Carrie looked down at her sketchbook, staring at all of the sketches she'd already made. None of them seemed right. 

She stared at the chat log between her and Flynn, unaware of the smile forming on her face until it was too late - it was already stuck, and every time she tried to straighten it out, it just creeped back up, moving her cheeks.

She'd never admit it out loud, but she'd been watching Flynn in art that afternoon. Watching her work. This project seemed to come a lot easier to Flynn...

Well, of course it would. Flynn was...well, she was Flynn. Carrie had always thought that she was pretty much good at everything that she tried. 

She was even good at second chances, it seemed. Carrie didn't know why Flynn seemed to be deciding to give her one. Ever since they bumped into one another in the bathroom the other day, things had been different. Flynn had been doing that cute, rambling thing that she did when she was nervous or caught of guard, drops of water clinging to the thick eyelashes that Carrie used to spend hours staring at when Flynn napped on her couch. 

Why did Flynn keep doing what she was doing? Offering small acts of grace to Carrie, encouraging her and complimenting her when they'd both been pretty dedicated to antagonising one another for the past year? 

Their baffling but amusing encounter in the bathroom had reminded Carrie of how things had been before; something in her missed the nonsense. The antics in Julie's studio, pizza and movie musical nights at Willie's place, trips to the beach with Flynn...

Going to dances with Flynn...picking a colour to match their outfits, sharing accessories and using up an entire box of polaroid film in one day because they couldn't pick just one perfect snap to commemorate the most mundane days out.

Of course, no day out had been mundane with Flynn, no date unremarkable. Because that's what Flynn was - remarkable.

There was a part of her brain that was happy that Flynn was reaching out to her, teasing her in that way that always made Carrie giggle back when they were together. There was another part of her brain telling that she didn't deserve Flynn's olive branch, that she didn't deserve the support that she was being offered, even just for a silly art project.

These two parts of her brain came together all at once to tell her that she had to make it up to Flynn, but where would she even start? 

The Carrie on the pages of her sketchbook stared up at her, eyes staring forward, expression sturdy and self-assured. It was Dirty Candi Carrie, who could command a room with nothing more than a snap of her fingers.

But that Carrie wouldn't be able to fix things with Flynn. That wasn't the Carrie that hosted tea parties and made shaky music videos to ABBA songs in Julie's bedroom.

She'd been ice-cold, no-nonsense Carrie for a while, now.

Carrie's dad had an appointment that evening, so she was fairly safe to sneak into his office without having to explain why she was rifling through his folders. She flicked through official documents, contracts, baby pictures, old school reports, and dance certificates before she found it. A baby pink photo album titled 'Carrie'.

Sure enough, right at the back of the album was the picture that Carrie had made sure was shoved out of sight for almost two years.

Returning to her room, she found a protective plastic wallet to slide the picture into, pinning it to the notice board above her desk.

Chapter Text

Bobby: hey do u want to go to a party on saturday 28^th?

Carrie: depends

Carrie: is it gonna be lame?

Carrie: and I know that’s a redundant question bc ur gonna be there, but still

Bobby: rough

Bobby: and idk but luke wants to go (pining). reggie wants to go (music and snacks). alex is gonna be there (you actually enjoy his company)

Bobby: but

Carrie: there’s a catch?

Bobby: always. It’s julie’s party and I know that’s kinda a sore spot for u but it could still be fun – if u don’t want to it's chill 

Carrie: will flynn be there?

Bobby: what were u saying abt redundant questions?

Bobby: obvs. u don’t have to buuuuut it’s fairy themed or smth like that and ik u probably have the perfect outfit sooooo…

Carrie: ugh. fine

Carrie: but u owe me

Bobby: when do I not?

Bobby: thx btw

Bobby: love u loser :) also can u give us a ride????

Carrie: ugh fine. whatever. now u owe me two.

Carrie: love u too, flop x

****

“Do I get to meet this Luke then?” Ray asked as he stirred his pot of sauce, adding a pinch of salt to the mixture. “Or are you gonna dash right through the door and pretend you don’t know me when he gets here, huh?”

Julie smiled fondly at her dad as she tied the laces of her white patent boots. “You can if you like, but don’t ask him anything weird, okay?”

“Like what?” He protested. “I’m a cool dad!”

“You sure are!” Carlos grinned. “Am I allowed to ask Luke a weird question?” He asked.

“Fine – just one, though.” Julie ruffled her brother’s curls with the hand that she wasn’t wearing any jewellery on – she’d gotten one of her rings caught in his hair once before, and it was not pretty.

When the doorbell rang, the two youngest Molina’s jumped up, racing to be the first to answer. Scrambling for the key, Julie grabbed her brother from behind, her arm across his chest to block his surge for the door.

It probably looked a little…odd, when she opened the door still in that position to greet Luke.

“Hey!” she smiled. “Come on in!”

“Oh!” Luke’s eyes widened – he wasn’t expecting that, apparently. “Are…are you sure?” He looked down to where Julie’s hand was now covering Carlos’ mouth. She said he could ask a weird question, but she didn’t say when.

“Absolutely!” Julie nodded. “I just need to, uh, put my other shoe on so…you can sit over there.” She pointed towards the breakfast island, where her dad was standing, holding his spoon and grinning way too wide. She then had to contain her disgust when Carlos poked his tongue out onto her palm, biting the inside of her mouth so that she physically couldn't yelp a big ew!! She could get him back for that when she didn't have company, and chose instead to silently wipe her hand on his hoodie sleeve as she glared daggers at him.

“Hey there!” Her dad said through his smile. “You must be Luke, right?”

“Uh, yes! Nice to meet you, Mr. Molina,” Luke said as he reached his hand over the breakfast island awkwardly. Julie supposed he wasn’t often in the business of handshakes.

“It’s Ray,” her dad corrected, taking Luke’s hand. “You sure you guys don’t wanna stay for something to eat? I’ve made carbonara,” he waved the spoon in front of Luke’s nose, offering him a sniff.

“It smells great, Mr—Ray, but uh…” Julie could tell that Luke didn't want to refuse the offer, so she finished the sentence for him.

“The doors open at six and we don’t wanna get stuck at the back,” Julie explained. “I’m too short to take my chances!” she joked, and her dad laughed before returning to his sauce. Luke had perched himself on one of the kitchen stools, trying to sit up extra straight as he fiddled with his rings. 

“So,” Carlos turned to Luke, his mouth now free to move and say…oh, god…anything. “Luke, can I ask you a question?”

Luke swallowed before nodding, and Julie tried to just focus on her shoelace. “Yeah, sure,” he replied. Julie tried not to worry about her brother's smirk.

“Would you rather be a ghost or a poltergeist?” Carlos asked, staring Luke down as if there was a correct answer, and that he would seriously judge him if he got it wrong.

“Is there a difference, mijo?” Ray asked. “I thought they were kinda the same thing.”

“No! They're totally different, dad.”

“Well,” Luke considered his answer for a moment, “I guess I’d go with poltergeist, because it would be fun to, like, throw stuff around and spook people out a little, right?” Carlos seemed satisfied with this answer, but Luke quickly turned to Ray to add a million disclaimers. “Not that—not that I’m a trouble maker or anything, it’s just…it’s hypothetical, right?”

Ray shrugged, “I mean, what’s the point of being a ghost if you can’t do a little haunting?”

“Well I would just be a regular ghost,” Julie added. “Because I’m not a menace.”

“Liar,” Carlos grinned.

Julie ruffled his hair again before pressing a quick kiss to her dad’s cheek after checking the time on her phone. “We’d better go before we miss our spot in the queue – see you guys later, and save me some of that food!”

After some very polite 'nice to meet you's' and 'come again's', Luke and Julie were finally out the door and waiting for their taxi to arrive.

“Your family are cool,” Luke said to Julie once they were in the car. “I was kinda scared to meet them because, well, I’m no Reggie.”

“Meaning…?” Julie asked, confused, and Luke grinned.

“Oh, it’s just…he’s convinced that parents love him.”

“Do they?”

“Oh, absolutely – the first time my mom met him she was practically pinching his cheeks and slipping him candy. I don’t really have that effect.”

“Come on,” Julie nudged his arm gently with her elbow. “My dad liked you, okay? Don’t freak out about it. And, I’m sorry about my brother – I told him he could ask you one weird question. Trust me, it could’ve been worse.”

Luke laughed, “It’s all good. I always wanted siblings, it’s cool that you two are so close.”

Julie nodded, and there was a moment of silence between them before she finally spoke. “So, what was your first concert? Like, what was the first band you ever saw live?”

Grinning, Luke tilted his head to face Julie directly. “Promise you won’t laugh, okay?”

Reaching for Luke’s hand, she lifted it up to show him linking their pinkies together before dropping it again. “Pinkie swear, now tell me!”

“Fine,” Luke sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. “It…it was The Wiggles.”

“Incredible,” Julie grinned, imagining a teeny version of Luke at a Wiggles concert, dancing his little socks off. “No, seriously, that’s so cute I think I might actually pass out.”

“Please don’t,” Luke groaned, “I don’t have first aid training.”

“What,” Julie teased, “did The Wiggles not do a song about that?”

Luke rolled his eyes, but the way that his face beamed betrayed his attempt to look offended. “Okay, then, what was your first concert?”

“One Direction,” Julie answered, “and you can’t even try to make fun of me, because it was the best night of my life.”

Luke raised his hands. “Touché,” he said. “Bet I can guess who your favourite was.”

“Fire away,” Julie laughed.

“Right, so I’m thinking…floppy brown hair, swoon-worthy, heartthrob vibe…it’s gotta be Harry Styles, right?” Luke asked, not accidentally gesturing towards his own floppy brown hair as he did so.

Julie quirked an eyebrow. “No, actually – my favourite was Niall - but nice try."

Shrugging, Luke said, "I could totally dye my hair blonde. You think I could pull that off?"

"Hmm," Julie considered it for a moment, taking in the sight of Luke's hair, not covered by its usual beanie today. "It's less 'couldn't pull it off' and more...I don't know," she shrugged, "I kinda like it how it is."

"For real?" Luke asked, seeming suspicious. "Could I get that in writing, please? My mom's always trying to get me to cut it," he explained, and Julie gasped with mock-offence.

"No!" She exclaimed loudly - the rest of the world had fallen away and all that existed at that moment was her and Luke, both of them forgetting about the unfortunate driver who had to listen in on their conversation. "What kind of rockstar doesn't have some hair to flip around?"

"Exactly," Luke grinned, lopsided and toothy. "Although, I think I'm gonna have to start letting you give me some of your glitter before gigs."

"Yes!" Julie nodded with enthusiasm. "In fact," she smiled, reaching into the small bag she'd bought with her for a little tube, "I really think you'll feel out of place at this gig without glitter. May I?" Julie held out a tube filled with silver face glitter - she had planned to dab some on her cheeks while they were queueing, but now seemed as good a time as any to jazz up Luke a little.

Luke side-eyed the tube for a moment. "Is it cold? Because I'll totally jerk my head if it's cold and mess it up."

"You can't mess up glitter," Julie reassured. She stuck out her bottom lip, batting her eyelashes - the mascara she'd brushed on earlier made them look even longer than usual, making for much more effective batting. "Please!"

With a laugh, Luke shifted himself in his seat, tilting downwards to bring himself closer to Julie. "Sure, go ahead - but be careful, my face is the money maker, y'know?"

Julie chuckled softly, careful not to allow her hands to shake as she dabbed glitter on the tip of her finger - the movement of the car already made it hard for her not to shake a little. Maybe they really shouldn't do this on the move. Still, she managed to create a fairly uniform arrangement of glitter on Luke's cheekbones, carefully dotting little shimmery pieces across his face like freckles. Luke's cheeks were warm to the touch, and Julie made her best attempt at ignoring the little jolts in her fingertips as she brushed against his face, close enough to feel his breath against her palms.

Luke checked his face in his phone camera, grinning as he saw himself, "I might leave it on for school, what do you think? You're always sorta...shiny - we'd match!"

"Shiny?" Julie questioned.

"You know," Luke elaborated, gesturing vaguely at her outfit, "you always wear those really cool outfits. Like, your bedazzled Nirvana t-shirt was totally awesome - you should bedazzle me a Sunset Curve tee to wear at gigs!"

Warmth pooled into Julie's stomach at Luke's request; adding glitter and rhinestones to almost everything had been one of her favourite mother-daughter activities, the Nirvana t-shirt first belonging to her mom. 

After a few weeks with Julie, every inch of Luke would be glittered and rhinestoned - she'd make sure of that. Bedazzling was her favourite gesture of affection!

"Oh my gosh," Julie gasped. "Can I rhinestone one of your beanies?" she asked, hoping that if she smiled sweetly enough, Luke would melt under her gaze and be unable to refuse.

His actual reply was undetermined but not completely hopeless. "I'll get back to you on that," he said. "Let's start with the t-shirt."

****

Willie flopped back onto Alex's bed, watching as Alex rifled through his closet, searching for a missing shoe. "You'd better have a costume for Jules' party, by the way," Willie said as he propped himself up against a stack of pillows. "I won't be seen with you if you don't have fairy wings."

Alex chuckled, tossing a crumpled Whitney Houston t-shirt onto his bedroom floor as it slipped off the hanger. "I'm working on something, don't worry," he promised. "Do you have something?"

"Obviously," Willie answered, "but you're not allowed to see it until the day. It's a surprise."

Alex groaned, "No fair! What's with the theme, anyway?"

"It's fun!" Willie exclaimed, careful to keep his voice down - Alex wasn't technically meant to have a guest over, but if a tree falls in a forest and nobody hears, did it even fall? Willie figured that the same went for unwelcome house guests - if you can't hear them, are they really in your house? "A Midsummer Night's Dream is Julie's favourite play."

"What's yours?" Alex asked, abandoning his search to perch on the edge of his bed, sitting next to Willie.

Willie winked, and he got a lot of enjoyment from watching Alex fluster at this - what? He was allowed to fluster Alex, now. "Romeo and Juliet," he answered, teeth biting into his bottom lip as he smiled.

"Kinda basic," Alex teased as he tucked his feet underneath his legs and reaching for his laptop to find something to watch. Willie leaned in to Alex slightly, resting his chin on the edge of his shoulder to look at the screen.

"I don't know," Willie shrugged, "I'm kind of a fan of the whole...secret, forbidden relationship thing. Really speaks to me, you know?" 

Alex snorted a laugh, rotating his head against the wall to look at Willie. "You're so dramatic," he said, and Willie's chest panged at the softness of Alex's eyes, the subtle curve of his mouth. "This isn't a forbidden relationship, it's tactical secrecy for the greater good." It was a line that Willie had used on Alex when explaining his and Julie's plan over the phone, and Alex had been having a lot of fun with it.

Sighing dramatically, Willie tipped his head back with 'despair.' "Romeo, Romeo - wherefore art thou, Romeo?" Willie recited, making direct, intense, and mildly uncomfortable eye contact as Alex watched with an arched eyebrow.

"You're such a theatre kid, you know that, right?" Alex teased, laughing at Willie grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers, shaking their joined hands between their faces as he continued:

"Deny thy father and refuse thy name, Alex!" Willie pleaded as Alex pretended that he wasn't muffling laughter.

"Shhh! My parents are gonna hear you," he protested, betrayed by his grin as he swatted Willie's arm gently with a pillow. "Are you gonna pick a movie or not?"

Willie scrunched his brows as Alex scrolled through Netflix. None of the films on offer seemed as interesting to Willie as just sitting and talking with Alex for a while, until they were all clear to sneak him out when his parents weren't paying attention. "Probably not," Willie replied. "I'm not really in the mood."

"Oh," Alex said, and Willie felt his shoulders droop slightly as he closed his laptop. He was jumping to conclusions again - Willie was starting to be get better at picking up on the warning signs of this. Alex's eyes would drop to the floor, and he'd start twisting his fingers, face flushing less in the cute way and more in the the panicked and hurt way.

"Because," Willie explained further, "I'd rather just...hang out with you."

"Oh," Alex repeated, but this time, through a smile. "Right." He visible relaxed as he continued to speak, "By the way, I tried to get some information out of Carrie the other day."

"Huh." Willie's felt his face drain - they hadn't planned anything yet...what was is that Julie had said? Something about cooks? Kitchens? "Any luck?" he asked, hoping that his eyes weren't too wide, that his expression didn't seem too alarmed.

"She's uh..." Alex hesitated, his expression shifting as he searched for the right words, "she can be a little difficult to read, like, there's all this stuff happening her head but it doesn't come out of her mouth, right? I couldn't even get her to mention Flynn. I don't know - I'm assuming you have something up your sleeve, though?"

"You know it, hot dog," Willie waggled his eyebrows, miming pulling handkerchiefs out of the sleeves of his undershirt. "Me and Julie have been coming up with a few tricks for the party," he revealed. "You'll be heavily featured."

"Again," Alex added with a laugh. "I still can't believe you tricked me into tricking Flynn. Should I feel a little used?" He had started to absentmindedly play with a little piece of Willie's hair, causing little prickles to tickle the back of Willie's neck. This was...this was nice. Really nice. 

Alex hadn't been sure about bringing Willie back to his, and Willie had pretty much insisted that his dad wouldn't mind if they just went to their place instead. Would he tease Alex and Willie a little? Oh, without a shadow of a doubt, this was his dad he was talking about, but he wouldn't have a problem with them. Still, Alex was keen to avoid 'meeting the parents' for as long as possible; at least hiding out in his room for a while meant that no parents had to be encountered by anybody. Willie wasn't keen on hanging out with the Mercer's anyway. He'd heard enough about them to be able to imagine the experience pretty accurately.

"Well, you know," Willie replied, leaning into Alex's touch, "greater good and all that. I'm sure you can forgive me." He felt Alex inhale a mildly shaky breath, beginning to fiddle with the drawstrings of his hoodie. "What is it?" Willie asked, watching Alex carefully. Alex's comments about stuff going on in Carrie's head and not coming out of her mouth was feeling a little ironic.

"I was just wondering...would it be against the greater good if we went to Julie's party together?" Alex asked, smiling nervously. "Like, I mean, obviously we're both already going, so it wouldn't look suspicious if we just happened to be hanging out at place that we're both supposed to be, right?"

Willie's mouth curved upwards, and Alex visibly relaxed upon seeing his expression. "I think that would be just fine," he answered quietly, "I don't think that the greater good would mind." 

"Great," Alex said, matching Willie's expression. Willie noticed his eyes flick downwards, to his mouth, and his heartrate began to quicken, blood rushing to his face. Alex continued, still not meeting Willie's eyes as he began to ask, "So, do you think that the greater good would mind if I-"

"Alex!" 

Willie felt Alex tear himself away so suddenly that he almost toppled over onto the floor. The voice was loud and booming, coming from the bottom of the stairs and rattling in Willie's chest as he was caught entirely by surprise. They both froze, silent.

"Alex!" the voice repeated. "Have you taken my electric tape again? I'm sick of you not putting it back," the voice ranted as it slowly became closer, Alex and Willie both staring at one another.

"Oh, crap," Alex groaned. "My dad's coming, you have to go," he told Willie with an apologetic shrug. "I'm sorry."

"Go?" Willie asked in a panicked whisper, hurriedly standing up and grabbing his schoolbag from the ground. "Go where? You want me to bump into your dad on the stairs?"

"Sorry, Willie," Alex said with a grimace as he dashed to the window. "Seriously, I'm so sorry."

Willie tossed his head back with a quiet groan, pulling his bag onto his shoulders. "You're gonna owe me for this, hot dog," he said, making sure to smirk as he said it, Alex hastily unlocking his window.

"Please try not to, like, break your leg or something," Alex whispered as his dad's footsteps approached, worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth. Willie patted him gently on the cheek as he slung his leg over the edge of the window - luckily, Alex's room was right above an extension, so there was a small, flat section of roof for him to land on not too far down. It wouldn't be a difficult landing.

"Don't worry, man," Willie said, "if I do, I'll just make you look after me."

"I'm...I don't have that kind of training," Alex said, eyebrows furrowed. "Please be careful. Your dad'll hate me forever."

"Alex, I'll be fine," Willie reassured, completely out of Alex's room now. "You're cute when you're worried," he teased, relishing in Alex's shocked expression as he ducked his head below the window, hearing Alex's bedroom door creak open just as he dove out of sight. Willie didn't stay long enough to hear Alex's conversation with his dad; he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth closed if he did, and that wouldn't help anyone.

****

“That. Was. Incredible!” Julie grinned, bouncing up and down on the spot as she and Luke got out of the concert venue. Luke watched her dance under the pale blue glow of the street lights, the LEDs catching on the rhinestones stuck to her leather jacket, causing the constellations of glitter on her cheeks to shimmer, her curls glowing at the edges like a halo. “No, seriously, that was probably the best gig I’ve ever been to!”

Luke laughed, trying to catch up to Julie with a slow jog. “Not better than The Wiggles though, obviously,” he corrected, and Julie laughed. Her laughter was music to Luke’s ears, and would’ve made her face shine even without help from the street lamp.

Something swelled in Luke’s chest as he watched her, something he usually only felt when he was up on stage, performing. A thrill that made him feel a little dizzy, like he couldn’t keep himself steady on his feet.

“One day, I’m gonna sing on that stage,” Julie declared into the night, cool air pinching at Luke’s cheeks as he smiled. “I’ve just decided!”

“Hell yeah, you are,” Luke agreed, “and I’m gonna be in the crowd.”

“No,” Julie shook her head, stretching to throw an arm over Luke’s shoulder, which made it ridiculously difficult for them to walk with any real speed because of their height difference. “You’re gonna open for me, and I’ll open for your shows, too.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Luke said softly, and Julie immediately broke into song, the encore number from the gig they’d been to. Luke joined in, too, hoping that Julie wouldn’t notice that he was watching her.

Walking along that busy street under the lights, warming himself up by holding Julie’s hand, Luke suddenly got the feeling that this whole thing – this thing with Julie – was just completely right.

There were two opposing voices in the back of his mind – one of them was saying ‘just kiss her already, dude!!’ and the other was saying ‘it’s your second date, bro! Don’t do that!’

He decided to listen to the second voice. It was too soon, and Luke wanted to get this right.

One final taxi ride later, when they finally arrived at Julie’s front door, she threw her arms around his shoulders in a hug that lingered for a second longer than it needed to.

“I had the best time tonight,” she smiled. “Thanks for taking me.”

“No problem,” he shrugged, holding up his phone flashlight to Julie’s bag as she searched for her house key. “We should do it again sometime – soon, maybe?”

“Absolutely,” Julie nodded. “Only…I mean, I’m gonna be pretty swamped with the last bits of birthday planning for a couple weeks, so I might not be the most reliable.”

“That’s chill,” Luke said. “I can wait. Besides, there’s always lunch.”

Julie grimaced, and Luke felt his face fall. “I…I think that some friendship factors might make that awkward.”

“Why?”

“Well,” Julie explained, her key jingling at the bottom of her bag as she grabbed it, “you’re friends with Alex who's friends with Carrie who sits at your table. I'm friends with Flynn, and I don't trust Carrie to behave if she has to sit with Flynn at lunch.”

“Pity,” Luke sighed. “Ripped apart by a feud.”

“Hardly,” Julie laughed, a sharp exhale from the nose. “And besides, I’m working on it. If I have my way, we’ll all be sitting, drama-free, at the same lunch table by October.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it,” Luke said. The door was open, and it was finally time to say goodbye – Luke was exhausted, but he kind of didn’t want the night to end.

“Thanks again, Luke,” Julie smiled as she stepped into her house. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Julie,” he waved one last time before she shut the door with a quiet ‘click.’

Slowly, he made his way down the path, pausing for a moment to look up at the front upstairs window, where a light had been turned on, causing a soft yellow glow behind the curtain. He turned again, leaving the Molina’s front garden and making his way back up their driveway, where his bike was locked onto their front gate.

It was a decent ride back to his place – thirty minutes at least. And yet, for the entire journey, only one thought occurred to him.

Woah.

END OF ACT THREE

Chapter Text

A FEW WEEKS LATER…

“Please be careful,” Julie winced as Willie stood up on his tiptoes, dangerously close to the edge of the stepladder.

“I’ve got it,” he strained, stretching his arms to hook another string of lights up on the wall. The plan was to drape them from the ceilings, creating a canopy of lights in the studio – as it happened, turning a garage space into an enchanted forest wasn’t as easy as Pinterest made it seem. This was proven once more to Julie as she turned to grab another set of fairy lights – behind her, she heard Willie swear, followed by the clattering of lights on the floor.

“Still got it?” Flynn teased, hands on her hips as she turned her attention from the plastic vines that she was using to cover the garage doors.

“I was so close,” he groaned, running his fingers through his long hair. “I need longer arms,” he said before climbing back down the ladder to retrieve his lights.

“Third time’s the charm,” Julie attempted to encourage him. “We still have…four hours until people start arriving.”

“We should’ve started earlier,” Flynn groaned. “Why did we think we could do this all by ourselves in one afternoon?”

“I think we were encouraged too much as kids,” Willie joked, “nobody ever told us to manage our expectations – aha!” he interrupted himself with a triumphant sound as he finally managed to get the string of lights to stay put, punching the air with his fist. As he did this, the ladder shifted beneath his bare feet.

“Gah!” Julie yelped, sticking her arms out reflexively, ready to catch Willie despite the fact that he would probably flatten her on his way down. Thankfully, he didn’t fall and – hey! Their first string of lights was up!

“That’s one down, and,” Willie checked the number of boxes laid out on top of Rose’s piano, “nine to go.” His shoulders deflated as Julie tossed the next box up to him.

“You’re doing great, Wils,” Julie promised.

“And what are you doing, Molina?” Flynn asked, one eyebrow raised as she looked Julie up and down. Julie had perched herself on the edge of a side table, passing lights to Willie and directing Flynn with the vines.

“Uh,” Julie started, “I’m the birthday girl?” she attempted her sweetest ‘how could you say no to this face?’ expression, but Flynn wasn’t buying it.

“Yeah,” she scoffed. “Nice try – here, you’re on butterfly duty,” Flynn said, sliding a box of paper butterflies along the floor with the toe of her boot.

Julie sighed with exaggeration, making a huge show of bending down to pick up the box, unclipping the lid of the box, and carefully removing one butterfly at a time. She began attaching them to some of the vines with blu tack, dangling others from the light fixtures on the walls. They worked quietly, accompanied by the distant music from the kitchen, where Ray and Victoria were putting together some party snacks, trying (and failing) to hide Julie’s cake.

“Aw, crap,” Flynn cursed, drawing Willie and Julie’s attention from their tasks as she took a sharp intake of breath, wincing as she gripped her thumb.

“You okay?” Julie asked, concerned.

“Yeah, yeah, just caught my thumb on something – do you have a band aid?”

“Sure,” Julie nodded, “upstairs bathroom cupboard – just knock on Carlos’ door if you can’t find anything.”

Flynn nodded, and Julie watched her walk way, braids swinging behind her back as the sound of her footprints faded into the house.

“So,” Willie began, just as Flynn was out of earshot, “what’s the plan? You still wanna go through with ‘Operation Carrie’ tonight?”

'Operation Carrie' was a recently implemented subdivision of 'Operation Flarrie.'

“Yep,” Julie affirmed, “of course. I told you – in too deep to back out now.”

"At least we're in too deep together," he said, an attempt at comfort. "What's the plan? I'll need to text Alex."

Admittedly, it was pretty much the same plan as the first time – keep an eye on Carrie, help her see the light (in an indirect way, of course), and bam! Flynn and Carrie forever.

Willie had questioned the decision to repeat ‘Operation Flynn’ almost verbatim, but the way that Julie saw it, it had worked so well the first time…why not give it another go?

Besides, after Julie’s wobble the other week, the slither of doubt planted by her own guilt and Alex’s surprise involvement in their top secret operation, she need some assurance. She also needed to actually enjoy this party, after the wild month she’d been having.

September had been…well, it had been chaotic. Julie couldn’t think of a single other way to put it. However, if she had to try, she thought that sleepless and stressful could work, too. And, okay, inviting her secret…date to a party wasn’t the best way to relieve any of that stress, but – okay, she hadn’t really been thinking.

It was just that…it was Luke! The past few times they’d been able to hang out had been Julie’s little escapes, a few hours of respite from her matchmaking mission (which she was never doing again, by the way). Every time Luke made her laugh, or encouraged her to rant about whatever TV show she was obsessed with – she’d been texting him non-stop about that, lately – it really was like a weight was lifted off. Julie had always felt that the expression was a cliché, until she facetimed Luke to work on a song together one evening after school; as soon as they started to work, speaking in hushed tones due to the lateness of the call, Julie felt some of the tension ease in her chest.

She couldn’t stop succumbing to the guilty conscience around Flynn, lately – this would hopefully go away within the next few weeks, and…well, everything would be perfect. More perfect than before; Flynn and Carrie would reunite, Willie and Alex and she and Luke could be together, and their two groups could merge into some sort of…super group of friendship and good vibes. 

The party would just be a test run for that – when she wasn’t trying not to look too date-y with Luke though, of course.

She hadn’t said it was a date, so…maybe he wouldn’t do that thing where he reached for her hand and waited for her to take it, or that thing where he’d say something cute and wink at her – their vibes would be purely platonic. That is, after all, why Julie invited all of his other friends.

Plus…she was sort of looking forward to seeing Luke’s outfit. Okay, she was expecting him to just do ‘Luke in a band t-shirt and a beanie with some wings’ but, hey, she kind of liked his band tees and beanies.

****

"I can't believe you, Luke," Reggie grumbled as he rifled through the plastic bag that Luke had dumped on Carrie's desk. Little plastic bottles clattered against one another as he searched with his hands, but he couldn't seem to find just what he was looking for. "You didn't get any red glitter! I'm a red fairy!"

"Sorry, man," Luke shrugged, "they didn't have any."

Kayla spun on Carrie's desk chair, blowing on her lavender nail polish as she watched the boys bicker. "You know, if you get glitter all over Carrie's stuff, she'll totally lose it." Seeing as Carrie was (reluctantly) playing the role of driver tonight, the entire group had been instructed to get ready at her place; they'd also been warned that any mess or damage would be billed directly to them.

Kayla didn't think she was joking.

"Kayla," Reggie whined, "do you have any red glitter? I think Luke hates me." 

Luke chuckled, "Look, I didn't stock the costume store, okay? Just use pink."

"Pink?!" Reggie cried. "Alex and Carrie are already pink, we can't have three pink fairies - plus, my wings are red, and do you know how embarrassing-"

"Could you two cut it out," Carrie interrupted, re-entering he bedroom from the ensuite next to her desk. Her hair had been carefully curled, sprayed with little streaks of pink to match Kayla's purple ones; Carrie had tried to convince Alex to do the same, but he didn't trust that it was semi-permanent. He seemed a little...on edge as everyone was getting ready, nervously trying to get his wings to sit straight, tugging at the little clip-on, dangling flower earring that Carrie had loaned him from her old dressing up box. He'd changed the way his hair sat about ten times in the past twenty minutes. "And would you just chill? It's a house party, not the prom."

"Yeah," Reggie grinned, "unless...unless there's someone there that you're trying to impress?" The waggle of his eyebrows turned Alex a similar shade of pink as his t-shirt.

"Be quiet," Alex mumbled, turning back to Carrie's full length mirror to straighten yet another imaginary crease in his t-shirt. "I have to pee," he announced, swiftly moving towards the bathroom, and shutting the door.

"Is he good?" Bobby asked, staring at the bathroom door with creased eyebrows from the beanbag he was sprawled across. 

"He's probably just nervous," Luke suggested with a shrug, "He gets kinda anxious, you know? Parties can be a little stressful."

"It'll be chill," Kayla said, topping up the clear lip gloss she had applied on top of her purple lipstick, "I went to Julie's birthday party last year - it was a really relaxed vibe, not like...crazy party town, you know?"

"You went to Julie's birthday last year?" Carrie demanded, hands on her hips as the translucent sleeves of her pink dress rustled. 

Kayla shrugged. "I mean, we hardly talk, but we have a few of the same classes, so...yeah. I did. Why?"

"I wasn't invited," Carrie snipped, her glare sharpening at Kayla's sceptically raised eyebrow.

"I'd say it's some kind of divine miracle that you've been invited to this one, Care," she reminded her friend, tacking on the nickname that only a select group of people could get away with using. Kayla wondered if she was dangerously close to slipping off of that list, now.

"What even happened with you guys?" Reggie asked, unscrewing the cap of a recently sharpened eyeliner pencil. The rest of the room turned to Carrie with interest; Kayla knew the basics, obviously. She and Flynn had a big falling out, they broke up, and...well, that was genuinely as detailed as Carrie's account of the great friendship disaster of sophomore year had been.

"Um," Carrie folded her arms, tilting her head with frustration, "same thing that happened with your ability to mind your own business," she snapped. It was just in time for Alex to emerge from the bathroom, drying his hands on his trousers.

"Be nice, please," he warned...well, nobody in particular. Just a general plea, really. "We should probably head soon," he said, holding up his wrist to show his watch. "The party starts in less than an hour."

"I thought there was a rule that you showed up to parties late," Luke said. "Like the time you're meant to arrive isn't the time the party starts, right?" 

Carrie and Kayla nodded, and Alex grimaced. "I hate that. I hate that so much."

Bobby chuckled. "Unless we want to be the first ones there," he said before turning his head to wink at Luke. "That way, Luke can get a little one-on-one time with his new-"

"Project partner!" Alex interrupted with a yelp, far too loudly and with far too much haste. "Project partner," he tried again, levelling his tone. "Luke and Julie are...they're working on a..." Alex's voice trailed off as Carrie stared at him, blinking slowly as his face grew hot. Luke looked similarly lost, watching Alex with suspicion.

"Ri-ight," Carrie said, dragging out the word. "Okay, well...I'm gonna go fetch Julie's present from my car because we're taking my dad's - you guys, please, don't break anything."

"We're not toddlers," Bobby grumbled after her as she flounced out of the room. "She gives me absolutely zero credit, it drives me-"

"What was all that about, Alex?" Luke wasn't listening to Bobby's complaints, his attention still fixed on his friend, who was becoming increasingly nervous.

"It was...I was - well. I just don't think that Carrie should find out about you and Julie just yet, right? I mean, things are obviously still awkward between them," he explained, and his shoulders dropped with relief as Luke considered this for a moment, before nodding in quiet agreement.

"Okay," he said. "Okay, I guess that's fair."

There was a moment of quiet before Kayla spoke up, asking: "Do you guys ever get the feeling that your life is starting to revolve around all this Julie-Flynn-Carrie drama?"

"You don't even know the half of it," Alex sighed.

****

“Yay or nay on the flowers?” Willie asked, holding a ring of artificial daisies up to his hair. “Too much?”

“Yay!” Flynn nodded, punctuating her approval with a thumbs up. She’d barely moved her fingers for the past hour, making a valiant effort not to smudge the sage green nail polish she’d painted on after helping Willie with his hair. “No such thing as too much.”

“Very true!” Willie agreed, placing the flower crown on top of his head. “D’you thing these wings are gonna last the whole night?” he asked, flicking the corner of one of his wings gently.

Flynn laughed, rubbing the stretchy material that they’d pulled over the coat hangers. “I’m expecting rips,” she replied. They’d gone through an embarrassing amount of tights during the making process, and Flynn didn’t expect the wings to rise the occasion and not be delicate at the actual party.

Willie chuckled, a short exhale from the nose. He watched as Flynn added the final details to her outfit, smudging shimmery pink eyeshadow across her eyelids.

Flynn had been excited for this party for weeks, channelling all of her energy into making sure that the playlist and the decorations were perfect – and they were. Flynn had put so much work into Julie’s birthday; she deserved to have fun.

She deserved to know.

“Hey, Flynn?” Willie said, sliding himself up to perch on one of the bar stools in the kitchen, watching as Flynn clicked the lid back onto her eyeshadow palette.

“Yeah?” Flynn replied, busying herself with zipping up her bag, shoving it into one of Julie’s cupboards, out of sight.

“There’s, uh…there’s something I need to tell you,” Willie sighed, “about tonight.” He twisted the bracelet tied around his wrist, tugging at a ‘W’ bead. Flynn had made it for him as part of his official induction into the friend group.

Flynn turned slowly, folding her arms across her chest as she leant her side against the open garage door. “Oka-ay…that’s not worrying at all,” she said with an attempt at a smile.

“Don’t worry, okay? Just…okay.” Willie inhaled deeply. “I just think that you should know that Carrie’s coming tonight.”

He didn’t know if he expected Flynn to be upset, for her to cry and demand to know why she’d been betrayed like that, for her to beg for Willie to revoke Carrie’s invitation. Instead, she just hummed thoughtfully, nodding.

“Are you okay?” Willie checked. “I know that it’s not exactly how you planned to spend tonight, but—”

“Well,” Flynn chuckled, “I think so? Things have been kind weird with us lately, but, uh…I guess she’s coming with Alex and those guys, right? Not one hundred percent sure why Julie invited them all, but sure. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Willie checked – he didn’t want her to lie, to deny her feelings just because she thought it was the right thing to do.

When Flynn nodded with certainty, Willie felt his shoulders relax a little.

“Actually,” Flynn started, “Carrie and I have been sort of…civil lately.”

“Civil?” Willie echoed. “That’s a start, I suppose.”

Flynn took a step towards him, a quizzical expression as she fixed her eyes onto his. “A start to what exactly,” she asked, and her expression was way too knowing for Willie’s comfort…busted? Potentially.

“Uh,” he hesitated, “you know. Just…an end to all the fighting. Maybe you can be civil…all the time?”

“Yup,” Flynn popped her lips as she spoke. “So, you don’t have any other ideas?”

“I’m confused,” Willie lied. “What are you trying to say?”

“Nothing,” Flynn replied with an innocent shrug. She didn’t attempt to push the subject any further – and if she’d been planning to, she was interrupted (and Willie was saved) by the bell.

“I’ll get it!” Willie declared, hopping down from the stool and relieving himself from this potentially dangerous conversation.

He opened the door to Luke, holding a little purple present bag with an adorably nervous expression.

“Hey, guys!” Willie greeted, acknowledging the rest of Luke’s friends, and…

Alex.

Willie was determined to remember not to stare at Alex, but at the very last moment he completely forgot the promise he’d made himself.

And it wasn’t even his fault! How was he supposed to know that he wouldn’t be able to handle seeing Alex with silver shimmer dusted across his cheek bones, a small silver flower charm dangling from his left earlobe? He hadn’t prepared himself for how soft Alex’s hair would look, falling across his forehead and framing his face just right, bright beneath the yellow setting sun.

Screw fairy, Alex looked like an angel. And Willie was definitely staring; so much for not blowing their cover.

Alex must’ve noticed, judging from the way he, too, was staring at Willie – he was probably waiting for Willie to say something, some kind of excuse for his sudden inability to form a single sentence.

Someone cleared their throat, and Willie tore his eyes from Alex – who had turned a particularly ferocious shade of pink – to look at Carrie. “So, where’s the party?” she asked – right!

That’s why they were here.

“Yes!” Willie clapped his hands together, squeezing past them to lead them to the studio. “Follow me – you guys are actually kinda early, but I’ll get Flynn to start up the music, and Julie’s gonna be down in a minute.”

He paused to look at the group, hoping that it wasn’t obvious when he paused for a significant amount of time when his eyes fell on Alex. “You guys all look really great.”

****

Julie found one last moment of quiet as she heard the doorbell ring, announcing the arrival of her first guests. Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, she fixed one last butterfly into her hair and pulled a few curls loose to fall around her face.

It had been about fifteen minutes since she’d left Willie and Flynn to finish their own outfits; the garage was decorated, the speakers were plugged in, and Flynn was braiding the two front strands of Willie’s hair before fixing matching flower crowns onto their heads.

If Julie hadn’t already put on her eyeshadow and her non-waterproof mascara, she would’ve had a great opportunity to splash her face with cold water to snap her back into reality before she could panic and run away at the very last minute. Was that the night that ‘Operation Flarrie’ would finally enter the final stages?

She hoped so.

She also hoped that her and Luke would be able to hang out and interact in a way that wouldn’t make Flynn suspicious.

Had Julie been the only one to officially break the pact? Yes, technically. Well, not technically. Just, like, actually. She’d been on two dates, neither of them at the Halloween Ball, as per their agreement.

What would Flynn say if she ever found out?! How could Julie live with her new reputation as a notorious pact breaker?! What if it got around, and some record exec heard and decided to never enter a contract with—

Okay, maybe she was going a little bit far.

This was exactly why she could do with some super cold water to splash onto her face, or something with a similar effect at least – would sticking her face in the refrigerator work?

Then again, despite her growing anxiety about Flynn finding out what she and Willie had been getting up to over the past few weeks…there was a part of her that knew that she didn’t regret it. That she wouldn’t regret it.

Everything would be coming up Julie pretty soon, and in the meantime, she’d just enjoy the party. She would enjoy the party.

The gentle thump of bass began to rumble from the studio, and Julie knew that she couldn't hide for much longer. Pity.

Julie drew in one final, shaky breath before leaving the bathroom and making her way down to the studio. She had a long list of jobs to get done tonight, but the main one (well, the second main one) was to actually have fun. Besides, she was a self-proclaimed expert at balancing multiple projects – how hard could it actually be to throw a successful party, set up two people who loved to hate/hated to love one another, and avoid any disasters?

Happy birthday to me. Julie couldn’t help but laugh to herself as she fixed a droopy butterfly in the mirror.

****

"Hey," Willie felt a hand on his upper arm as he filled his paper cup with the punch that Flynn had concocted - it was reddish-purple and fruity, shimmering with swirls of edible glitter as he moved the ladle around. He turned his head to find that it was Alex who was speaking to him, smiling nervously as they managed to interact for the first time since Willie had opened the front door and nearly tripped over his own feet. "Can I borrow you for a minute?" he asked, and Willie nodded, leading him to the ladder at the far side of the garage.

"Let's go up here," he said as he began to climb. "It's quieter."

Alex nodded, following close behind as Willie plumped up a couple of large cushions for them to sit on. He crossed his legs as he waited for Alex to sit, crouching over to stop himself from bumping his head on the low ceiling.

"You're too tall," Willie said once Alex - not without difficulty - managed to take his seat. "I could've really used you earlier, trying to get those lights up. I nearly fell off the ladder, like, five times."

"I'm not even that much taller than you, you just know your way around the garage," Alex chuckled. "And you think I'm any less likely to fall off of a ladder than you? I still can't stand up straight on your skateboard without holding your hands," he reminded Willie, who shook his head.

"Nah," he said, "I think you're faking because you like holding my hands so much."

"Busted," Alex replied, his hands raised in surrender. "Anyways, aren't you forgetting something?"

He stared expectantly at Willie, who was completely blanking. "Um...you look really nice?" He tried. "Because, I mean, you do. Really nice."

Alex smiled at the ground. "So do you, and thank you, but...no, not that. You were meant to be texting me, remember? The plan?"

"Oh! Oh, right, crap - I completely forgot," Willie said, slapping his forehead with the palm of his hand as he reached for his phone. "Operation Flarrie."

"Of course you have a ship name for your friends," Alex said with a grin.

"Actually, that's all Julie's doing," Willie explained as he flicked through the notes app on his phone - he and Julie had a shared document where all of their plots and schemes were typed up. "Ah! So, all you need to do tonight is get Carrie to the upstairs bathroom in Julie's house when 'No Scrubs' plays - it's like, your musical smoke signal."

"How do you know-?"

"Please," Willie interrupted with a smile, "I've been getting a play-by-play account of the entire making of this playlist from Flynn, I know what she's gonna play," he explained, just as the next song began to play. "Come on," he said, standing up and holding his hand out to Alex, "let's go dance."

"What about flying under the radar?" Alex reminded him, although he had already pressed his hand into Willie's.

"Hey," Willie said, smiling, "that's hardly gonna matter after tonight. Let's just dance, okay?"

****

Julie was trapped between Flynn and Luke in front of the snacks table, gripping a paper cup filled with lemonade with such a tight grip that she thought it might crumple.

Maybe that would give her an excuse to escape to find paper towels.

But that would mean leaving Luke and Flynn alone…and they couldn’t be left alone.

“So!” Julie began, slightly too loudly even with the music blasting from the speakers. “Flynn, have you seen Willie anywhere?”

“Umm,” Flynn pushed herself up to her tippytoes to scan the room, her slightly droopy, shimmery wings wobbling with every movement. “Nope. Maybe he’s gone to the bathroom?”

Julie nodded – she’d thought that maybe Flynn would go and look for him. Time for Plan B, then.

“Luke.” She turned to the other source of her nerves – and not in the good way that he usually made her tummy flip and her heartrate increase. “Do you need anything? Like, do you need me to show you where anything is, or…”

“Nah,” Luke answered, his ‘confused Luke’ face coming in as Julie grasped at straws to solve the problem that she’d mostly invented in her head. “I love the playlist, by the way,” he said, gesturing towards the speakers with the hand he was using to hold his cup.

“Really?” Flynn’s face lit up, and Julie knew that there was no way she’d be dragging them apart any time soon. So there Julie was, listening to Luke and Flynn talk about their current favourite albums, when Luke slowly lifted his free hand to rest on Julie’s shoulder; Julie almost didn’t notice, and she wouldn’t have if it weren’t for the way that Flynn’s eyes drifted to her right shoulder slowly, one questioning eyebrow raised in a perfect arch as she flicked her eyes over to Luke.

Thinking fast was never the source of any of Julie’s better ideas, but it was all she had; lifting her hands up to her face, Julie tipped her head back before folding her entire body in half in the world’s most intense, full-body ‘sneeze’ that she could muster, yanking her shoulder away from Luke’s hand in the process.

“Phew!” Julie exhaled, pretending to be surprised by the sneeze. “We picked up some dust when we decorated this place, huh?”

“Damn, Jules,” Flynn snorted, “are you exorcising a spirit?”

Julie forced a laugh at Flynn’s joke, swatting her shoulder playfully as she took a subtle step to the right, inching away from Luke.

Under any other circumstances, his hand on her shoulder would’ve been a welcome gesture. But she was under these circumstances, and had to keep a wide berth.

“So-oo,” Flynn turned to Luke, smirking as she looked him up and down. Oh god…that was her ‘question time’ face. “How did you and Jules meet? I don’t think I’ve ever seen the two of you hang out before.”

“Well,” Luke started, tilting to smile at Julie, glancing at her with that ‘we have a history and inside jokes’ face. “Actually, it’s kind of a funny story, see—”

“It’s not that funny,” Julie protested, interrupting. “We met in the music room a couple of weeks ago and...uh, yeah! That's kind of it!”

“Well, I think that there’s a little more to—”

“So, you know, not, uh, that funny, really,” Julie repeated before clearing her throat. She wished that she would either shut up, that Luke would give in, or that – alternatively – she could just vanish. That would be preferable, actually. Maybe the floor could do her a solid and just swallow her right up.

“Ri-ight…” Flynn’s suspicion was palpable at she stared them both down. Thankfully, she didn’t feel the need to pry any further, declaring: “I’m going to look for Willie – I’ll come find you later, Jules.”

Julie waved her away, her wings bouncing behind as she left, stopping to remove an abandoned can of soda from the lid of Rose’s piano.

“Are you okay?” Luke asked, just before Flynn was out of earshot. “You’re acting…”

“What?” Julie challenged, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “you just seem at little…jumpy. I’m not making you uncomfortable, right?” he checked, concern flooding his face as his eyes widened. “Because, like, we never discussed how this was gonna go with hanging out with other people or anything, and—”

“Luke,” Julie interrupted, stilling the nervous movement of his hands by grabbing for his wrists. “Don’t worry about it, okay? I’m just…it’s a busy night, okay?”

“I get that,” Luke replied gently, the softness of his voice almost soothing Julie’s frayed nerves, “I just…it kinda feels like you’re…I don’t know.”

“I’m…” Julie invited him to complete his thought. Luke’s eyes slipped to the fixating on his shoelaces.

“Like you’re…embarrassed by me, or something,” he murmured, his voice little more than a whisper. “Like…you don’t want your friends to know about us.”

Heat rushed to Julie’s face – so, she wasn’t playing things as cool as she’d let herself believe, apparently. Nervous laughter probably wasn’t the right way to reassure Luke that, no, she wasn’t embarrassed by him, and yet, that’s what happened.

“No, of course not!” Julie attempted to fix her mistake, but she couldn’t fix her expression, which felt stiff – if she could see her face, she assumed it would expose her discomfort, which was not what she wanted to communicate to Luke right at that second. She wanted her friends to know about them, but she just couldn't tell them yet. If only there was some way to help Luke understand that.

Luke didn’t buy her verbal reassurance. Reaching for an empty bowl of salsa, he nodded with a forced smile.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said. “I’m gonna replace this dip – you’re out of chips, too.”

Julie watched him walk away, entirely ready to lift the lid of the piano, crawl inside, and hide out in there until everyone went home.

She knew this would happen. Why did she get herself tangled up in these elaborate webs? Why did she have to make her own life so damn hard?!

Chapter Text

In the midst of her search for Willie, Flynn rounded the corner to leave the garage and came face to face with Carrie, crashing right into her with very little grace.

"Oops! Sorry," Flynn said, "I should really watch where I'm going!" She laughed, stepping back away from Carrie who was staring at her with an unreadable expression. 

"Yeah, you should," she replied, but it almost lacked its usual bite. A few seconds passed before Carrie seemed to realise this too, and she rolled her eyes in what looked to be a slightly forced, performative gesture. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Did you make a start on your portrait yet?" Flynn asked, not eager to let Carrie get away just yet. It was the first time they'd been alone in person since their text conversation a few weeks back; maybe Willie was right. Maybe this could be the start to a new era of civility between them. Flynn didn't know how much she believed Willie and Alex's claims that Carrie still had feelings for her, but she did know that she was tired of the fighting. Tired of forcing herself to argue with Carrie, who apparently didn't feel much like arguing right now either. 

Carrie opened her mouth to say something before quickly snapping her jaw shut. "It'll be ready when it's ready."

"Is that a yes?"

"It's...it's a 'why do you keep pushing this', Flynn?" And there it was. The snippiness was back, and Flynn's shoulders deflated. "We're not friends." It was the same thing that she'd said over text the other week, only then, Flynn hadn't felt the bite in it. Hadn't taken it to heart. 

If Carrie did still like Flynn, she had a funny way of showing it. 

"You know what, Carrie?" she said, taking another step back and a shaky breath. "You go to the bathroom, and while you're there, maybe you should take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself why you're determined to push away anyone that even tries to care about you."

Carrie blinked with shock, taken aback by Flynn's words. Flynn regretted them for a second; they were too harsh, too cold, too cutting.

But then again, Carrie had never paused to think before speaking. Never taken Flynn's feelings into account before saying the first hurtful thing that came to mind.

"Bathroom's at the top of the stairs," Flynn said.

"Yeah," Carrie said, staring at the floor. "Yeah, I remember."

****

“You got something on your face, kid,” Ray announced his arrival to the kitchen, finding Luke hunched over a little bowl beside the fridge, scooping salsa out of the jar with a spoon.

Ray suppressed a chuckle as the boy jumped straight of his skin from surprise, only settle back into his skin when he turned to see who had joined him.

“Oh, hey Mr Mo—Ray. Hey, Ray,” Luke corrected himself before reaching for one of the small, floral napkins on the breakfast bar. “What do I have on my—”

“Not like that,” Ray explained, grabbing a tortilla chip from the bag that Luke had gotten out to take back to the snacks table. “What’s with the frown? You look like someone confiscated your guitar – you’re not enjoying the party?”

Luke shook his head, reaching for a chip too. “Nah, it’s not that. You’ve done a great job with the party.”

Ray shook his head, “That’s all Julie, Flynn, and Willie. I just gave them the budget,” he chuckled. Either they’d dipped into their own pocket money, or they really knew how to stretch a cheque. “So, what’s up?”

“We’re out of dip,” Luke answered, although Ray was fairly certain that Luke wasn’t looking so down about salsa. “And chips. I’m just about to take these back in.”

“You sure there’s nothing wrong?” Ray pushed – maybe he shouldn’t have, but hey, he liked Luke. He didn’t like seeing him so miserable at his daughter’s party. “Something happened between you and Julie?” he asked. It was a risky question – he knew he wasn’t meant to pry, but he just had to check. Luke seemed like a good kid, and Ray was the chill dad that people felt comfortable opening up to about their problems. He was just using that skill for the greater good.

“I—” Luke started, but apparently thought better of it, stopping himself. “I’m fine, Ray. Seriously.” Luke smiled, and it was clearly forced. Ray didn’t mention it. “I’d better get this dip to Reggie - he gets grumpy when he's hungry.” From the garage, 'No Scrubs' began to play, and Luke smiled, although it was half-hearted. "Luckily, he really likes this song, so grumpy Reggie'll be delayed for a little while."

"In the meantime," Ray said, "you sure you're okay? It's kind of my job as the host to make sure all my guests are happy."

"I'm fine," Luke promised. "Seriously. I'd better go," he said, seemingly unable to escape from the kitchen fast enough. Good chat.

Ray nodded as Luke grabbed the bowl of salsa, twisting the bag of chips and tucking them underneath his arm as he made his way back to the front door, almost bumping into Carrie in the process, who was making a beeline for the stairs.

Well, it had been a long time since he’d seen Carrie Wilson in his house.

A very long time.

She was taller than she used to be.

These kids were all growing up too fast; Julie was seventeen now, inviting her 'maybe sort of almost boyfriend' (her words) to her party, planning her birthday all alone, greeting her own guests and cutting her own cake.

He watched as Julie and a boy he hadn't met before, with floppy blonde hair and a pink shirt, half-jogged, half-tiptoed up the stairs, trailing after Carrie. Ray chuckled as he followed them with his eyes, those ridiculous wings flapping behind them as they did…whatever it was they were doing…like a couple of mischievous woodland creatures, plotting and giggling as they fell over one another.

“No running on the stairs, mija!” he called after her, hearing a muffled apology from upstairs as somebody definitely tripped, judging by the little thud that followed.

Ray exhaled a sharp laugh. Some things just didn’t change.

****

Carrie topped up her blush with shaking hands. She was furious!

But...she didn't know if she was more furious with Flynn or herself.

So much for making it up to her, right? There was just something about speaking to her face to face, confronting her in person when all of their interactions for the past year involved Flynn avoiding eye contact, Carrie saying something rude anyway, and Flynn snapping back in self defence.

This was ridiculous - they weren't even friends. Flynn could try to force something all she liked, but nothing could make the facts less true.

Her life would be so much easier if she could just pretend not to care.

Carrie tightened the backs of her earrings, taking one last look in the bathroom mirror and preparing to leave before stopping herself as two, muffled voices appeared right outside the door.

"It's so hard seeing her like this," the first voice spoke - it was definitely Julie. And the second voice undoubtedly belonged to Alex. Since when did the two of them speak?

"What, Flynn?" he asked. "Yeah...Willie told me about her whole...situation."

"How much did he tell you?" 

Carrie stood completely still at the mention of Flynn, afraid to move a single muscle for fear that she might drop her brush against the sink, or step on a creaking floorboard and alert them of her presence. Something made her want to listen to this.

"Only that Flynn is, like, super in love with Carrie and knows that there's nothing she can do about it."

Carrie's heart stuttered. She had to sit down, lowering herself slowly and quietly onto the closed lid of the toilet. 

That couldn't be true, right? Willie had to be mistaken.

"Ding ding," Julie confirmed that shocking claim, and Carrie could barely hear over the loud, rushing sound in her ears. "And it's obviously none of my business, but I just think that Flynn deserves someone who's willing to apologise and accept an olive branch, you know?"

"So Flynn's tried to make things right with Carrie?" Alex asked, and Carrie thought back to the attempts at conversation in art. The pencil sharpener incident in the bathroom. The paint thinner incident. The text messages...

Oh, god. Maybe they were right. 

First of all, Carrie felt the need to jump up and defend herself - she had been wanting to make it up to Flynn with the portrait, but it was going to take time. Couldn't Flynn just wait a few more weeks?

But...but Flynn had already been trying herself for weeks at this point, and Carrie hadn't exactly made it easy for her.

"I'm thinking of telling Flynn to just drop it," Julie said. "The sooner she can completely wipe Carrie from her mind, the better. If Carrie wanted to fix this, I'd say that the window of opportunity is about to close pretty soon."

"Don't you think Carrie is a little too stubborn to admit that she's in the wrong?"

"Yep. Carrie would rather be cut off from her friends and a girl who really cares about her than own up to her own mistakes."

"I guess that's what Willie was talking about when he said she was a little frosty."

They must've walked away, but Carrie didn't notice for at least a minute.

Had she really been that awful? Is that really what they all thought? That Flynn would be better off completely scrubbing her from her mind than fixing things between them?

Julie had said something about...about a window of opportunity. That it was closing soon, but...but maybe it hadn't yet? Maybe she still had a chance to make things right. To show Flynn that...that she did care. That she did want Flynn in her life.

Holy crap. The realisation hit her like a tonne of brightly coloured bricks, bright and glowing and impossible to ignore. 

Carrie was still in love with Flynn. 

****

"Hey, Reggie," Flynn called, waving him over to the speaker set up. "I have to dip for a second, can you watch my speakers?"

"Do I get to pick a song?"

Sigh. "Fine, but it had better be a bop - I've worked hard on this playlist."

"Bops only," Reggie promised, holding a hand to his heart. "Jedi's honour."

"I'll be holding you to that," Flynn said, and she left her precious playlist in his hands for a few moments as she headed towards Julie's house.

As Flynn made her way back out of the kitchen with some of the secret snacks that she, Julie, and Willie had reserved as a treat for the party planners, she bumped into Carrie. Again.

"Jeez!" Flynn cursed, tipping her head back with frustration. "Can't a girl just get a snack without-"

Flynn was interrupted by a wet sniffle. Getting a better look at Carrie's face, she noticed mascara smudges around her eyes, the tears tracks that had removed thin streaks of her powdered blush.

"Oh," Flynn said, "you're...you're crying."

"Astute observation, Flynn," Carrie snapped as she tore a square of kitchen paper off the roll.

"Well, alright then," Flynn said awkwardly. "I know when I'm not wanted." She turned to leave, but felt a hand wrap around her wrist hastily.

"No, wait. Don't go. I...I'm sorry."

Flynn blinked. "You're sorry?"

"For snapping at you, I just...I'm kind of freaking out right now."

It was weird, hearing Carrie use the 'S' word - it caused a moment of weakness in Flynn. 

"Alright, c'mon," she said, making sure to sound at least mildly irritated by it, "I'm gonna take you back upstairs to clean your face. You look like a total mess."

"I think I might be," Carrie replied, and a few more tears slipped down her cheeks.

"You are."

In the bathroom, Flynn tossed a foamy face cleanser to Carrie, who just stared at it.

"Are you planning on going back down to the party with mascara all over your face?"

"I'm planning on going home. I'm calling my dad." Carrie said. "If I wasn't designated driver tonight, I'd already be halfway there."

Flynn perched on the edge of the bath. "So you're just planning on hiding away and moping? You're not doing a great job at proving me wrong about the whole 'pushing people away' thing."

"Why are you even helping me right now?" Carrie demanded. "You hate me."

Flynn wasn't going to bother with getting into the complexities of her sentiments towards Carrie right then. They were constantly, confusingly bouncing back and forth between love and hate, but unfortunately never coming close to indifference. "I'm still annoyed about earlier - and everything leading up to earlier," Flynn clarified, "but I'm hardly gonna let that get in the way of my vow to always help a crying girl at a party, okay?"

Carrie huffed a sharp breath through her nose, and Flynn chose to interpret it as a laugh. "How chivalrous of you."

"I like to think so."

There was a moment of quiet between them. It would've been peaceful if it weren't for the million thoughts rushing through Flynn's head as she sat there, shut up in a bathroom with Carrie while Reggie manned her speaker. He'd definitely played more than one extra song. She wouldn't have put two Green Day songs in a row.

"So," Flynn broke the silence, "are you planning on telling me why you're crying at Julie's party, or do you want me to guess? I could totally give guessing a go."

"Don't. And no, I don't want to talk about it."

"Those are your options, so either you tell me, or-"

"Please, Flynn," Carrie pleaded, her brows drawn together. "I- I can't do this right now."

"Do what?" Flynn demanded. "What exactly is it that we're doing?"

"You're trying to help!" Carrie snapped. "You're trying to help me, and...and I don't deserve it, so could you just stop, please?"

"Gah!" Flynn made a frustrated noise. "I'm not nice to you because you 'deserve it', I'm nice to you because I'm sick of the nastiness, Carrie. I just don't get you anymore," Flynn said, her voice catching in her throat as the frustration of an entire year stopped bubbling, and began to settle into a deep, aching sadness. "What happened? When did I stop-" Flynn's voice became strangled. "When did I stop meaning anything to you? Why do you act like this with me?"

Carrie froze, her eyes widening. "Flynn, I-"

"Was it even hard?" Flynn asked, her voice small as the fiddled with the end of one of her braids, desperate for something to do with her hands, any sort of distraction from the hot tears prickling the backs of her eyes. "You know - ditching us. Ditching me."

"I didn't ditch you." Carrie's voice was even smaller, and Flynn could tell that even she didn't believe her own words. Ditching, dumping, dropping - they were all pretty worthy accusations.

Flynn couldn't think of any other way to put it. A half-hearted laugh escaped her lips, forgetting to bring any traces of amusement with it. "You stopped sitting with us at lunch, you stopped hanging out with us, and...and you broke up with me because, and I quote, 'we weren't really on the same page'. But who switched the books, Carrie? Because I've spent the past year wracking my brains, searching for something that I might've done, to understand what changed, and...yeah. I'm still coming up empty."

"You didn't do anything, Flynn."

Of course, Flynn already knew that, but it felt good to hear it from Carrie. Finally a conformation that Flynn wasn't completely missing something from her memories of their awful breakup.

She forced herself to pull her eyes away from the toes of her boots, staring directly at Carrie. "Can I just ask you one thing?"

Carrie nodded.

"Do you still have feelings for me?"

It had been weeks since the music room incident, and all that Flynn had wanted to know since then was if it was true. She just needed clarification - as soon as Carrie said no, she would just be able to move on with her life.

But then Carrie answered, and Flynn almost slipped into the bathtub.

"Yes," Carrie said, planting her face in her hands as she sniffled again. "Flynn, I...I know that I've done absolutely nothing to- to deserve your forgiveness, but I can't keep lying to myself. Or to you." Carrie inhaled, turning to Flynn. "I still have feelings for you. So many feelings that I just don't even know what to do with them anymore."

Flynn replied, but couldn't do more than whisper. "So, when in doubt, make my life a living hell? Did you stop having feelings for me?" Carrie shook her head. Flynn scoffed. "So, you're not only dedicated to ruining my life, but your own, too?"

"Seems so," Carrie said. "I don't deserve all of your attempts to be nice to me lately. I'm...I'm sorry it's taken me so long to-"

"Give up on treating me like crap?" Flynn offered.

"I want to make it up to you."

"I want to believe that you can," Flynn said. "I want to believe that it's true. That...that you like me, that you're sorry-"

"I am sorry, Flynn. I am." 

"And what's with the sudden change of attitude? Have you been visited by three ghosts or something? What gives, Carrie?" Flynn demanded, unable to push down the swirl of emotions raging in her chest. Carrie's confession had sparked hope in her, but the year of hostility continued to dampen it. Did Carrie even understand how much she'd hurt Flynn? How much she'd hurt Julie and Willie, too?

Carrie sighed. "It's...sometimes you're just forced to confront how awful you've been, and it kinda makes you miserable."

"Welcome to the club," Flynn murmured before clarifying- "The miserable club, that is. Not the 'being awful' club."

Despite herself, Carrie huffed a laugh. "I've been selfish. I put myself first, and not in like, a good 'self care' kind of way."

"Can you at least explain why you ditched me?" Flynn asked. "Just honestly. I want to understand what was going through your head."

Carrie was quiet for a moment, carefully considering her next words. When she finally decided what she wanted to say, she spoke quietly. "I've always put a lot of pressure on myself. To be the right kind of person, to live up to that 'Trevor Wilson's daughter' title, to be...okay, this is such a ridiculous high school cliché but, look, I wanted to be popular. I didn't want to be weird, awkward Carrie anymore. In some misguided attempt at increasing my status, I - completely wrongly, of course - decided that I was...I was too good for our little group."

"Ouch."

"I know. It was shitty of me, I know. I've been awful - I was probably, like, the worst girlfriend in the world."

Flynn sighed. "There are probably worse, but...but it definitely sucked."

"I'm going to spend the rest of my life regretting how I handled those insecurities. I was just so desperate to prove myself-"

"Why do you have to change to make other people like you?" Flynn interrupted, her tone laced with a mixture of sadness and frustration. "I would've never made you change like that. You didn't have to prove anything to me, I just...I wanted you the way you were!" The words tumbled out of Flynn as she rubbed her hand across her eyes, a shimmery smear of pink coming away with it. "I've been furious with you for this past year, but despite it all, I missed you!"

"I missed you too."

"Carrie," Flynn said as she stood up, smoothing out the fabric of her skirt, "I...for some reason, I'm desperate to make things right between us. I've been trying to. But how am I supposed to feel about you brushing me off for weeks, only to tell me that you have feelings for me?"

"You asked," Carrie reminded her.

"I know. And- and I'm glad that I know, but- but what am I supposed to do now? How do I know that you're not just saying all this? How do I know that you're actually sorry?"

"I don't know," Carrie admitted. "Maybe I've just messed it all up beyond repair."

Flynn sighed, shaking her head as she rubbed a hand across her face. "I don't think that anything is ever beyond repair, Care," she said. "I just need to be sure that you're willing to repair it."

"I am," Carrie said. "I will."

"Okay." Flynn said, nodding. She wasn't going to make Carrie give her a play by play description of exactly how she planned on doing that. "Just remember...actions speak louder than words, okay? I'm not going to keep being the one to initiate this. The ball's in your court."

And then Flynn left the bathroom, taking her snacks and closing the door behind her. She inhaled, practicing her best impression of a real smile before making her way back down the stairs. 

Chapter Text

“He’s still doing it,” Kayla said to Reggie and Bobby as she reached into the bowl of chips that they'd managed to smuggle away from the snacks table.

“Doing what?”

“Staring at his hands with his bottom lip all pouty,” she elaborated. “And then every time I think he’s about to say something, he just sort of…sighs to himself.”

“Huh.” Reggie watched as Luke did just that, checking his phone for messages occasionally for a little variety. “Plus, the only people he even texts are all here.”

“One of you should probably go check on him,” Kayla said. “He seemed pretty buzzed to come here earlier.”

"You're up, Reggie," Bobby said, clapping him on the back to encourage him. "I've been told I don't exactly have a...delicate touch with this kinda thing."

"Luckily, I'm super delicate," Reggie said proudly, turning to Kayla and smiling. "I'm kind of the glue of the group."

"Did you give yourself that title?" she asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes," Bobby answered on Reggie's behalf. "He did - now would you go find out what's up with Patterson, please? I don't like to see him all...all pouty like that. It's killing the vibe."

"Oh," Reggie deadpanned, "you're so gentle and caring, Robert."

Without waiting to listen to Bobby's rebuttal to this, Reggie made his way across the Molina’s front garden, stopping where Luke was sitting on the ground all mopey-like as she slouched against a wall. His fairy wings were looking slightly worse-for-wear, crumpled as they bent against one of the hedges growing over the low wall.

“Do you have some secret friends I don’t know about?” Reggie asked, joining Luke on the floor.

“What?”

“Secret bandmates?” Reggie added, nudging Luke’s side with his elbow. “Seriously, who are you texting that isn’t one of us? Do you even know anyone else?”

“Hey!” Luke yelped defensively, shoving his phone into the front pocket of his jeans. “I could be texting my mom, or my dad.”

“Yeah, if they weren’t currently at the theatre,” Reggie reminded him. “C’mon, man - what’s with mopey Luke? You seem upset.”

“I’m fine ,” Luke huffed in the worst attempt at ‘fine’ that Reggie had ever heard – he’d done some similarly bad ones himself in the past. 

“We can go home if you like,” Reggie offered. “Me and Kayla were talking about Star Wars and she hasn’t ever seen the holiday special which is pretty much illegal . Maybe we can go back to my place and I’ll microwave some popcorn? You know, if you’re not really feeling the party.”

“I can’t make you guys leave too,” Luke answered. “Just because I’m sulking.”

“You’d do the same for me,” Reggie reminded him. “Just say the word.”

Luke seemed to seriously consider it for a moment, watching Reggie from the corner of his eye, before his shoulders slumped again and he shook his head. “Nah. Thanks, man, but…but I think I’m gonna go look for Julie.”

“Sure thing, buddy. I think I saw her go into the kitchen with Willie like…five minutes ago? Maybe she’s still in there?”

*

Julie had sworn that Luke wasn't embarrassing her but...well, what was he meant to think? And now he was heading back to her kitchen where one of two things could happen:

a) he would find Julie and Willie and do something cringe in front of another one of her friends (if he'd even done anything in the first place; he really wasn't sure what the whole Flynn thing was about earlier.)

or b) he'd end up bumping into Ray again and be cornered into a deep chat about how he was feeling (answer? not too great).

Julie had wanted him to meet her friends, right? That was kind of the point of him coming - a big supergroup moment where he bought his friends and they all hung out together. Right? Wasn't it?

Where did this new, self-doubting-Luke come from all of a sudden? He was usually pretty easy going! But... Julie. His brain was starting to seriously resemble mush wherever she was concerned.

He just wanted to get this right.

And the mushiness only increased as he approached the kitchen and heard her voice speaking in frantically hushed tones to Willie. The pair of them were leaning over the countertop, their foreheads pressed together.

Luke didn't want to eavesdrop, obviously, but...again, the Julie induced brain mush was seriously impacting his ability to make good choices.

It was Willie's words that he caught first, just about making out what he was saying as he hissed under his breath: "I know that we were doing all this to get Flynn and Carrie back together but...is it really worth it? I mean...look how worked up you've been getting about this whole thing. Are you even enjoying your birthday party? Doesn't look like Carrie is - whatever went down between her and Flynn ...messy."

" Don't worry about it!" Julie hissed back, sounding as though she didn't even believe it herself. "Of course I'm enjoying the party, everything is fine! It's just...look, we're so close, Willie."

"Are we really?" Willie asked, unsure, and if Luke was ever going to stop eavesdropping at one point, well, he definitely couldn't now. Not when he had been given even more questions.

"I swear we are, okay? Carrie and Flynn...they're so close to figuring out how they feel about one another. Flynn's going to want to ask Carrie to the dance any day now-"

"And? You know Flynn won't agree to go if you don't have a date and, as far as I can tell, you're no closer to asking Luke to go with you."

"Ugh, I know." Julie groaned. "God , that pact was so stupid. I don't know why I ever thought I could make this happen. But remember how we're super in too deep to back out now?"

"Julie," Willie said softly. "Do you really like Luke like that? You can be honest with me, okay? I just...you're stretching yourself pretty thin here and I want you to be sure it's worth it - it's just a dumb pact. If Carrie and Flynn want to sort things out between them, they will."

It was as though Luke's ears ceased to function, a horrible, high-pitched ringing loud enough to cover any other sound, any other word that either of them may have said. Or not have said. Julie was taking too long to respond to a question that Luke himself would've been able to answer in seconds.

Pact?  

If Julie ever did answer, Luke didn't stick around to hear it. He wanted to hear those words from her to his face, not whispered in the kitchen at a party that he wished he'd never attended. Maybe the whole thing was one-sided, after all.

What pact?

Julie and Willie...

He had to find Alex.

*

Julie sighed after a long moment of silence, finally lifting her head out of her hands. "Of course I like Luke! I like him so much that I...I can't make a mess of this, Willie. I really like him." 

*

Alex took a gulp of his orange soda, the carbonated fizz tickling his nostrils unpleasantly as he swallowed. The uncomfortable tingling sensation was worsened when, suddenly, someone clapped him on the back unexpectedly, making the fizzing in his nose even worse and causing him to splutter.

"Alex! I have to talk to you about something." It was Luke; he hadn't seemed to notice Alex's little soda slip-up. He seemed distracted by something and was already steering Alex away from the snacks table into a hidden corner of Julie's garage, his brow furrowed with what seemed to be the weight of some pretty heavy thoughts.

"You okay man?" Alex asked, registering Luke's strangely tense demeanour. "You seem a little-"

"You and Willie are close, right?" Luke demanded, not giving Alex the chance to complete his sentence.

Alex's cheeks heated at the reference to his and Willie's growing closeness...a reminder of the two of them dancing together earlier in the evening, Willie's arms resting on Alex's shoulders, the way he'd sung along to the song playing on the speakers but managed to get every word wrong, the return of that huge grin and those dimpled cheeks. Yeah, Alex was pretty pleased with how close he and Willie were becoming.

"Can I take that dopey smile as a 'yes'?" Luke asked, arms folded impatiently.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, uhm...yes, I'd say that's pretty accurate," Alex replied.

"Okay, then do you know about this pact with Flynn and Julie?"

Oh. Alex wasn't quite prepared to answer that question, unsure how best to word it without causing some serious awkwardness between them all - he was sworn to secrecy! Julie was already dubious about getting him involved, despite Willie vouching for him several times.

But Luke...Luke looked so confused, so hurt . He must've heard something, figured something out...maybe Carrie had said something. Had what Julie and Alex said earlier that evening made her mad enough to bring the whole thing down? Carrie knew two key pieces of information; she knew that Willie and Alex had a thing; she knew that Julie and Luke had a thing; and she knew that technically , neither of these 'things' were meant to exist because of the pact. Carrie held immense power over the entire operation.

Alex was well and truly on the way to a complete and total spiral.

"Can I take your freaked-out silence to mean that yes, you do know something, but you just don't want to tell me?"

Alex sighed. He was a terrible liar and had an even worse poker face. "Look, I don't know how you found out but-"

"Just tell me. And tell me what it has to do with whether Julie 'actually likes me' or not." Luke bent his fingers as though he was quoting someone. God, what had he overheard? 

Alex hated drama but, since starting at Los Feliz, he couldn't seem to stay out of it.

But, despite his desire to avoid direct involvement in the drama, he couldn't in good conscience just not say something to Luke! Even as he explained and watched Luke's face fall, he knew that it had to be the right thing to do. Alex couldn't help but remember how hurt he'd been when Willie wasn't talking to him - when he was also avoiding Willie because of some ridiculous mix-up that could've just been avoided if they were willing to communicate . Alex had felt so lost, so hurt and confused about how everything could've possibly gone so wrong so quickly. And all over some silly misunderstanding.

If he could help give Luke a little clarity about his own relationship troubles...well, why wouldn't he? He would've wanted the same when it was him in this situation. It felt like his duty as a fellow previously confused and heartbroken individual - that's what friends were for, even though it clearly hurt Luke to hear it.

"So...so me and Julie going out was just so she could convince Flynn and Carrie to get back together?" Luke asked finally, his voice quiet. It was as though he was afraid that, were he to speak too loudly, his voice would break. "So she just never even liked me like that?"

"I mean..." Alex paused - he couldn't speak for Julie or her feelings, but he didn't think that there was any malice in what she'd done. "I-I don't know if I'd say that."

"Then what would you say?" Luke asked, sounding as though he wanted to be angry but couldn't quite make it happen. He just sounded defeated. "Do you think Julie ever liked me? I mean...she has been acting weird around me tonight. Like...like she doesn't want to be seen with me, like she doesn't want to hang around me for longer than necessary. What's that all about?"

"Luke..." Alex attempted, but truly, he didn't have an answer for that. How was he meant to explain Julie's thoughts? Her reasons for how she was acting? He really didn't know her that well yet; from what Alex could tell, she'd weaved herself a pretty complex web of chaos over the past month. Unfortunately, Alex's attempts to relieve Luke of his confusion had forced him to tangle a few strands of that web himself.

He'd possibly just gone ahead and made an even bigger mess of the whole situation.

"I'm sure you haven't done anything wrong , it's just...well, it's complicated y'know? Because-"

"Look, it is what it is, okay?" Luke cut in before Alex could offer a possible explanation for Julie's confusing behaviour. She had been under a lot of pressure lately. Homemade pressure created by her and Willie, sure, but they'd all been repeating this notion of 'the greater good' all week - it was all for a reason. Alex just wasn't properly equipped to get this all across to Luke. Not when it was late and he was tired and definitely not prepared to have that conversation.  Luke seemed to have made his own judgement, though. "I think I'm just gonna head off," he said.

"Are you gonna ask Carrie for a ride?" Alex asked. "I don't know if she's already-"

"No. No, I've already ordered an uber. I have to think about some things."

Luke turned on his heel, ready to leave. Alex followed him, half-jogging to catch up with Luke's fast paced steps. "Wait, do you not at least want to talk to Julie? I think you should hear her side before you jump to conclusions," Alex begged, desperate to make Luke stay. 

Luke shrugged, huffing a self-deprecating laugh. "Julie's practically been avoiding me all night, man. And now this? I think I just need to be alone for a little while."

Curse Luke and his stubbornness...it seemed that once he had his mind set on something, he was impossible to persuade otherwise. Alex released a resigned sigh; they were fighting a losing battle and Luke needed to tap out for now. "Okay. Yeah, sure, just...just tell me when you get home, alright?"

"Sure."

"Luke, I know this sucks but I'm sure it's not as bad as you think."

"What? The fact that Julie's only been going out with me because of some pact?" Luke reminded him, his words infused with bitter sadness. "Because I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty bad."

"I don't think she's been lying about liking you," Alex said softly. "I really don't. She wouldn't. You just need to talk to her." 'Don't make the same mistake that I made with Willie the first time around' was a sentiment that remained silent, but still managed to affect every word that Alex said.

"If she wasn't lying about liking me, then why wouldn't she say that when Willie asked her?" Luke's voice really did break with that question.

He didn't stick around long enough to let Alex answer it. Alex wouldn't have know how to answer it even if he had been given the chance.

*

21:14, 09/28

Julie: hey, luke <3

Julie: you okay? alex said you had to leave early

22:06, 09/28

Luke: hey. only just saw ur message. i'm ok.

Julie: no worries!! hope you feel better <3 you should've said bye :(:(

Luke: didn't want to bother u. hope u enjoy ur bday

Julie: why would you be bothering me lol?

Julie: it was good to see you

Julie: are you sure you're ok? you're being all mysterious and it's kinda freaking me out

Luke: look, jsyk, i know about the pact so

Luke: u don't have to like. humour me anymore or whatever. i think u should find someone else to take to the dance

Julie: ?????

Julie: wait wait wait what?

Luke: i don't wanna be stuck in the middle of all this

Luke: happy bday. maybe see u at school? night

Julie: no no no wait luke I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding here

Julie: can i call u?

Julie: luke?

Julie: look idk what you think you know but I promise there's nothing bad going on here okay? just let me explain?

*

The buzzing of Luke's phone beneath his pillow was beginning to grate on his final nerve, his last shred of cool that was preventing him from bursting into tears.

Without even checking the notifications that were pinging through rapidly, he switched the entire thing off before shoving it into his bedside drawer and switching his bedside lamp off, submerging himself in darkness.

*

Julie: i swear, there's nobody else that I'd rather go to the dance with so please just text me back

Message undelivered.

Chapter Text

A FEW HOURS LATER

“Well,” Willie said, exhaling heavily as he spoke, his and Alex’s interlocked hands swinging between them as they walked, “tonight was almost a successful night. If it weren’t for…well, you know.” Willie had been feeling a little out of sorts since leaving Julie after the final clean-up was finished; he’d read the messages from Luke. He’d seen the ‘message not delivered’ pop-up. It wasn’t looking good. 

“Hmmm,” Alex responded wordlessly, chewing on his bottom lip. He’d been sort of…quiet since around the time that Luke left the party. The whole situation was clearly weighing on him, it showed in the tension in his shoulders and the troubled expression on his face.

“You know,” Willie continued, “I’m sure this’ll all work out in the end – things in our crazy friend group usually do, right?” Willie smiled at Alex, hoping that he might mirror the expression and allow a little bit of the tension to leave his shoulders. However, Alex remained stiff and visibly anxious.

“I’m not so sure,” Alex replied. “I kind of feel like…like all this is my fault. Like I didn’t do a good enough job at explaining the whole thing – Luke thinks that Julie doesn’t like him because I didn’t make it clear enough, so–”

“Hey, hey,” Willie interrupted before Alex could go any further, squeezing his hand two times to ground him. “Luke thinks that Julie doesn’t like him because unfortunately as a group our ability to communicate has been way out of whack lately, right? Not because of you.”

Alex mumbled, “I did try and get him to talk to her, but–”

“Luke’s too stubborn?” Willie offered. Alex nodded.

“And now he’s got it in his head that- that Julie is embarrassed by him or something and I don’t think that anything is gonna convince him otherwise!”

“Sounds familiar, huh?” Willie pointed out, making Alex’s eyebrows crease with confusion.

“What?” 

“Isn’t that exactly what happened with us?” Willie reminded Alex of the absolutely pitiful couple of weeks that they spent not talking to one another because Alex had ‘got it in his head’ that Willie liked someone else despite all signs pointing to the exact opposite fact being true. 

Alex considered this for a moment. “Right,” he said finally. “Yeah. You know what? I seriously think I’m done with drama for the rest of time – I retire from drama. I don’t think that my already very anxious brain can take it anymore.”

Willie chuckled, stopped walking and turned so that he and Alex were facing one another head-on – well, as close to head-on as they could get, with Alex standing at least a head above Willie in height.

“Did I ever tell you that you’re kinda cute when you’re stressing about something?” he asked, lifting his hand to tuck a stray piece of Alex’s floppy blonde hair behind his ear.

Alex, though he was turning slightly pink, still managed a disgruntled look at Willie’s comment. “I’m glad that you get so much enjoyment out of my stress – I’m probably gonna be grey before I’m twenty.”

“I don’t see the issue,” Willie replied with a shrug. “You’d still be cute with grey hair.”

“Willie,” Alex laughed. “Should we not be thinking of ways to fix the mess that we helped to cause?”

“Hey!” Willie protested through his own laughter. “How did I help to cause this?”

Alex shrugged. “Well, I mean…if it weren’t for yours and Julie’s little scheming obsession at the start of the year…none of this would be happening,” he pointed out. “Just saying.”

“Well, I’m just saying,” Willie argued, playfully poking Alex’s collarbone, “that if it weren’t for me and Jules’ ‘scheming’, then me and you wouldn’t be together, so…not a total failure.”

Alex paused, pretending to consider this argument; after a few contemplative moments, he allowed a slow smile to spread across his face. “Okay, okay…that was a major positive,” he admitted, slowly wrapping an arm around Willie, hesitant as he took a step towards him. “I’m glad that one worked out.”

“Me too,” Willie answered, his voice barely a whisper as their noses brushed together. “Alex,” he said. “I think I’m gonna kiss you now, is that cool?”.

Breath catching in his throat, Alex nodded, flustered as he replied: “Uh– yeah! Yeah, I think that’s probably cool. I, uh, I think that would…that would be good, I think. For su–”

“Alex,” Willie interrupted, grin widening with every word. “I can’t kiss you if you’re still talking.”

“Right,” Alex replied, his shoulders immediately losing their tension. “Shutting up now.”

Willie closed the gap between them, the faint, lingering taste of orange soda suddenly sweet on his lips, soft against Alex's smile. Alex cupped his cheek gently with cold-nipped hands that made Willie feel strangely warm despite their temperature. He felt as though he’d been waiting for this for weeks – just a moment of quiet between him and Alex where everything would fall away and they could pretend to be the only two people in the world. If he could finally get a taste of what that felt like…well, the night couldn’t have been a total bust.

*

Staring into the mirror on her bedroom wall, Julie wiped another streak of eyeshadow away from her eyes, the makeup wipe spreading a shimmery streak of silver across her cheek like a bedazzled tear.

Julie couldn’t even think about what had happened without that sick feeling rising in her stomach, without her throat tightening and her eyes stinging.

And the worst of it all? She knew that she’d been completely misunderstood; there was nothing worse than knowing that a simple explanation could make everything right but also knowing that the person who needed to receive that explanation just refused to listen!

Best case scenario? Luke had switched off his phone and would see her message in the morning making everything okay again.

Worst case scenario? Luke had blocked her number and they’d forever wonder what might’ve come of their relationship if it hadn’t been started under the most exceptional circumstances that Julie could come up with.

God. Julie just needed the world’s biggest hug. She needed it now .

Next door, she could still hear her dad rustling around in his room, getting ready for bed. He always knew how to make Julie feel better and she was in serious need of that healing energy.

Slipping her feet into her fuzzy monster paw slippers, Julie padded across her bedroom floor and left her room, taking the few steps across the hall extra carefully so as not to wake Carlos with a squeaky floorboard; he'd already been up way past his bedtime, he didn't need an excuse to still be awake so late. 

Julie knocked gently on Ray's door, quiet enough that she wouldn't cause a disturbance, but just loud enough that he'd be able to hear her. 

“Papi?” she whispered through the small crack of his almost-closed door. “Can I come in?”

The door opened slowly, Ray's face appearing through the crack with an inviting smile that welcome Julie in.

“Are you okay, mija?” he scanning Julie's face, her slightly pink eyes and forlorn expression. Julie felt like a little kid again, sneaking into her parents' room to complain about a bad nightmare or a stomach bug.

“Can…can I talk to you about something?” Julie asked, her voice quiet and fragile as she looked up at her dad, only just about able to look him in the eyes. “I feel like I've made a total mess and I don't know what to do.”

“Oh,” Ray sighed, pulling Julie into his arms as the first tear escaped and slipped down her cheek. “Come here, let's talk about it – I bet it's nothing we can't fix together, alright?”

Julie nodded; when her dad said something like that, it didn't feel quite so impossible to believe somehow.

“So, tell me what's up.” 

“Okay, so…it's kind of a lot. You're probably gonna think it's all just a bunch teenage nonsense, but–”

“Hey– being a parent to a teenager means I've gotta expect a little teenage nonsense, it's all good,” he reassured.

Julie chuckled. “Well buckle in then,” she replied with a dash of self-deprecation. “It's sort of a wild one.

“Basically, it all started last year when Flynn and Carrie broke up…it was sort of a long time coming, sure, but still; I always thought they'd make it work. They just seemed so good together and well, I mean, Flynn never fully got over her – I spend literally everyday of my life with her. She never shut up about Carrie, and it was the same for Carrie, too, according to Kayla.

“But…but the whole thing was clearly hard on Flynn so, well…” this was the part that was extra tough to explain, simply because of how ridiculous it felt to say out loud. To admit that, yeah, a silly little pact amongst friends had led to such extreme chaos in such a short amount of time. “To cut a long story short, Willie, Flynn and I swore off of dating for the rest of high school unless we could get a date to the Halloween Ball. 'Best friend solidarity' and all that.”

“Okay,” Ray said, most likely just to demonstrate to Julie that he was actively listening. “So what's the problem?” 

“Carrie and Flynn were still totally obsessed with one another,” Julie explained. “I knew that Flynn would never do anything about it so…so Willie and I decided, well, what if we did something about it. So we decided to try and get them to realise their feelings for one another through…well, just a few little things here and there,” she brushed off the topic, not feeling the need to go into extreme detail for this particular retelling. “Basically, we were meddling.”

“Fatherly advice time?” 

“You have the floor,” Julie invited him to continue- some Ray Molina advice was just what she needed.

“You really shouldn't be meddling in other people's love lives like that, you know? I know that you care about Flynn and that you want her to be happy but that's the kind of thing that she needs to figure out for herself.”

Julie sighed. “I know , okay. I realised pretty quickly that that was gonna cause an entire mess but…once you've started something like that, you can't not see it through! That would be like, way worse!” 

Ray nodded, considering Julie's words carefully. “I can see why you'd think that, Julie, but…wait, so is that what's gotten you so upset? Trying to get Carrie and Flynn back together? I thought that you were gonna tell me about something happening with you and Luke,” Ray said.

Julie's eyes widened. “What?” How could he possibly have known about that? 

“You know, Luke?” Ray repeated his name and Julie felt its sting. “He seemed pretty down about something earlier. I just assumed that had something to do with what was bothering you.”

Julie felt her cheeks heat up; time to explain the worst of it, then. The royalest of the royal screw ups. The major disaster of the week.

(They were becoming fairly frequent.)

“Okay, so,” Julie began, running her fingers through her curls. “You remember how I told you about that pact?” 

*

ROUGHLY ONE YEAR AGO

GROUP CHAT: double trouble + their roadie 

Willie: lmaooo you guys are too much

Julie: it's no laughing matter william!! I'm dead serious!!

Flynn: I want it in writing plz can I get it in writing?!?!

Flynn: (mostly so I can frame it bc this is just too GOOD)

Julie: wait wait wait I'm drafting in the notes app

Willie: jsyk I take pacts seriously so. I'm holding u both 2 this 

Willie: we've also gotta pinky swear it @ school tomorrow

Flynn: the power of the pinky swear

Willie: it for SURE holds up in a court of law

Julie: OKAY OKAY I'M READY!!!

Flynn: I'm all ears

Willie: eyes. can't hear texts 

Flynn: what if I get my phone to dictate them hmmmmm????

Willie: …

Willie: …touché 

Julie: are y'all finished?? can I do my thing??

Flynn: proceed!! 

Julie: *clears throat* AHEM!!! We, Julie Molina, Flynn Taylor, and Willie Covington do so solemnly swear to never go on any dates, nor pursue any romantic interests, so long as we shall attend Los Feliz High School. Only under the circumstances that all three parties obtain dates to the annual Los Feliz Halloween Masked Ball may these conditions be broken. (i worked hard on that)

Flynn: SIGNED!!

Willie: signed :):)!

Julie: do I need to say signed?? I wrote it but. signed. obvs. 

Flynn: ily guys so much <3<3 I have the world's BEST best friends 

Willie: we're here for u!!

Julie: we love you too <3<3!! 

*

“...and, well, the rest is history,” Julie finished her in depth explanation of everything that had gone down because of that one fateful (admittedly sleep deprived) night of texting. The Alex/Willie debacle, the music room and bathroom incidents, the impromptu serenading…she laid it all out before her dad who listened and nodded and ‘hmmm’-ed when he felt it was necessary to indicate that he was still listening. “Do you think I'm, like, the worst person in the world?” Julie asked, shame seeping through her as she fessed up to everything that had occurred that month – feeling particularly bruised by her recollection of whatever had gone wrong between her and Luke that night.

But, in spite of Julie's deep sense of shame, Ray laughed. A low, quiet chuckle that Julie really hadn't been expecting. “Mija, of course you're not the worst person in the world – in fact, I don't even think you're on the list.”

“Wait, really? But what about–”

“Look,” Ray interrupted gently. “I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that you've been making the best decisions this past month; you and Willie have been…well, you've been keeping yourselves busy, that's for sure. And you already know how I feel about the meddling. But, I mean, who hasn't gotten in over their head with something that seemed like a good idea at the time? You've messed up, it happens. You can still come out on the other side of it though, I promise.”

A simple “Oh” was all that Julie could manage.

“Don't get me wrong, there's some things that are gonna need fixing and it's not gonna be easy but…I don't think this has to be the end of the world, okay?”

“Really?” Julie asked, sniffling as she tucked into her dad's side. “What about this thing with Luke? How do I explain myself if I can't message him?” 

“Julie,” Ray laughed. “What do you think people did before mobile phones, huh?” 

Julie groaned, rolling her eyes. “Dad! I don't need a lecture about how ‘back in your day’ you used to ‘talk in person and hang out’...being in person today is kinda my issue.”

“No,” Ray disagreed. “I think that your issue is biting off more than you chew and making a...questionable decision a year ago and not expecting it to go so far.” 

Julie sighed. She was never entering a pinky swear sealed agreement ever again. Not without a licensed legal professional present, anyway. “Do you really think I can fix this?”

“Honestly? Yes,” Ray answered. Hearing it from his mouth with such certainty almost made Julie believe that it could be true. 

“And if Luke doesn't want to listen?”

Ray shrugged. “Then he doesn't want to listen.”

“I don't like that answer,” Julie grumbled. 

Ray laughed. “I know, mija, but it's the only one I've got right now. You're gonna try and make it right; your intentions were good - if not completely misguided - and this really doesn't have to be the end of the world. Maybe he'll see it that way too, maybe he won't; all that you can do is get your side across. I think you just have to communicate - be honest.” 

Honesty - she could manage that. Hopefully. If the words came out right, of course.

“Tomorrow,” Julie declared, sniffling and dragging her palm across her cheeks to rid her face of any tears. “I should go to his place tomorrow." She paused. "Only after, like, a good eight hours of sleep, though. I think I need it.”

“I think you do too,” Ray agreed. “I'll give you a ride in the morning. And, Julie?” 

“Yeah?”

“I think you and Willie should probably come clean to Flynn at some point, too,” Ray suggested gently. “Get it all off your chest so you're not carrying that baggage around for the rest of your life.”

Julie groaned, planting her head in her hands. “Do we have to?” she asked, just in case he might've reconsidered in the mere seconds since he'd suggested it.

“Clean slate, mija,” he replied simply. “It's gotta start somewhere.” 

END OF ACT FOUR

Chapter Text

“Uhh…would you rather be trained by Yoda or…Obi-Wan?” 

Reggie considered Stevie’s question, the chains of his swing creaking quietly as he drifted backwards and forwards, crisp autumn leaves littering the park and making the ground seem more orange than green. Stevie’s swinging was a lot more enthusiastic than Reggie's; they’d been playing Star Wars -themed ‘Would You Rather?’ for about twenty minutes and, despite the stillness and quietness of the park, he showed no signs of boredom on his weekly outing with his older brother.

“Obi-Wan, for sure,” Reggie decided. “He’s got that cool beard and I do really like Ewan McGregor – what about you?”

“Yoda!” Stevie exclaimed as his swing soared higher than before, making Reggie wince. He couldn’t take him home with another injury, not after the ‘learning to ride a bike’ incident of the summer break - that had been a pretty impressive bump on his head and Reggie had been repeatedly accused of not keeping a close enough eye on him. “Because he’s green!”

Reggie chuckled, eyes. “Good choice, little man.” Despite being a seventeen year old who probably could’ve found something much more exhilarating to do with his Sunday afternoon, what with all those awesome friends he had, Reggie actually loved babysitting Stevie. Especially considering...recent circumstances.

Last night had been tense - really tense - and, truthfully, another three hours of Star Wars 'Would You Rather?' sounded a whole lot more appealing than addressing the elephant in the room that had been glaringly obvious to him for the entire party. It hadn't taking too long for Reggie to realise that he was just about the only person genuinely having fun. He was pretty well attuned to his surroundings and could pick up on a cool shift in atmosphere pretty quickly; he had a good eye for an uncomfortable look and a good ear for a pointed silence and Julie’s party had practically been full to the brim with them. Now, the Sunset Curve group chat was completely inactive and Reggie was on edge; Luke hadn’t sent a single grainy recording of Kurt Cobain from the 90s (his favourite genre of video) to compliment his talent, Alex hadn’t sent any memes and Bobby hadn’t told them to stop blowing up his phone when he should be asleep at midday at the weekend. As a result, Reggie had felt that it wasn't quite right to send his ‘joke of the day’ under the circumstances. It was awkward to the max.

He tried to remain focused on the worn grass beneath his feet as he swung back and forth, kicking at the flattened ground with the toes of his converse. The park was quiet save for him, Stevie, a few chirping birds in the trees and the occasional passing car. Reggie was so lost in his own thoughts and the tranquillity of the afternoon that he failed to notice the crinkling of dead leaves as footsteps approached the playground area.

“Stranger danger,” Stevie said casually, continuing to swing backwards and forwards and pulling Reggie out of his thoughts. Looking up, he spotted the stranger in question.

“Oh! Hey, Kayla,” he greeted, waving at their new companion. She’d pulled her long, dark hair up into a ponytail, purple undersides visible and a few missed strands loose sticking to the soft material of her sweater. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Reggie,” she returned. “And…?”

“Stevie!”

Kayla chuckled, offering the younger boy a gentle fist bump, careful not to catch his skin with the collection of rings adorning her fingers. “Hey, Stevie! Can I borrow your big brother for a minute?”

Stevie shrugged, nodding as he kicked off the ground again, soaring even higher than before. “Okay, but you have to bring him back. We're playing a game.”

"Sure thing - I'll be super quick."

Reggie followed Kayla to the picnic tables next to the playground, Stevie still in view and barely two metres away. Kayla perched herself on the bench, crossing her legs and propping her elbows up onto the table. Reggie followed suit, taking the opposite spot but not before dusting a few crumbs of someone's picnic away from the wooden surface.

“So, what’s up?” Reggie asked. “And…how did you know I’d be here?” That should’ve been his first question, really…was Kayla stalking him? 

Nah, probably not. She seemed chill - plus, she'd been pretty good company at the party last night when everyone else seemed to be acting...even stranger than usual. He kept some pretty interesting company at the best of times but last night...it was different. Bad different.

She answered with a shrug. “Lucky guess – you mentioned last night that you were taking your little brother to the park; this is the neighbourhood park so…” she trailed off, the explanation speaking for itself. “Basically, I just wanted to talk to you about last night and, well, even if you weren't here I got a walk out of it.” Incredibly nonchalant for a person who'd gone Reggie-searching with very little promise of success. Reggie was feeling a similar sense of desperation at this stage - someone else had noticed the wonky vibes he'd been detecting and it was a serious to know he wasn't imagining it.

“Last night?” Reggie asked before huffing a low whistle from the corner of his mouth. “So you noticed it, too? The chill in the air…the uncomfortable energy…what was that all about, by the way?”

Kayla rolled her eyes, picking up a dry, fallen leaf from the table and twirling it between her fingers absentmindedly. “Some relationship drama because, apparently, that’s worth wasting a perfectly good party over.”

“I hear you,” Reggie hummed in agreement. “And it wasn’t just last night, either. Things have been… weird lately.”

Kayla hummed, pausing to think before saying, “Y’know…I think this must have something to do with Carrie and Flynn. Julie is also a common denominator.”

“Wait, wait,” Reggie interrupted, holding up his hand as he attempted to make sure that he was following. “Carrie and Flynn? I thought we were talking about Julie and Luke .” Reggie paused before adding, “and why not just throw Alex in there, too – his thing with Willie was…a lot. It seems better now, sure, but for a moment there...”

“Wait, Willie, too?” Kayla asked, her eyebrows shooting to her hairline. Something seemed to be happening inside her head; Reggie didn’t know what it was, but there were wheels turning behind those eyes. He could practically hear them clicking. 

“Hey, Kayla?” Reggie stage-whispered after a few moments of her not saying anything. “You good?”

She hummed vaguely, still preoccupied with her thoughts. Eventually, she spoke: “Reggie, what do we already know ? I mean, like, RE: Julie, Luke, Willie, Alex, Flynn and Carrie.”

The following list was produced in Reggie's notes app, typed frantically as they each made their own contributions:

*

WHAT DO WE KNOW?!

• Luke = sad and mopey, Julie + Luke together?! Julie sang a song for Luke and they went on some dates (suspicious according to Kayla bc of pact [note to self - get further clarification])

• Alex + Willie together but first they weren’t – Willie liked somebody else?! RESOLVED – Alex AWOL on group chat (Bobby + Luke also AWOL on gc)

• Carrie + Flynn HATE EACH OTHER but also maybe not?!

• Julie + Willie = partners in crime (Flynn??) 

• Reggie + Kayla = vv confused!!!!

*

“You don’t need to add that last one, Reg,” Kayla pointed out when he handed over his phone. “It’s not really relevant.”

“But it’s true,” he said. “Isn’t it?”

“Look,” Kayla continued, “whatever’s going on? We’re getting to the bottom of it and we’re sorting. it . out. I feel like I’ve been a side character in these fools’ love lives for the past month and I think I deserve the satisfaction of helping to fix it.”

“Hear, hear!” Reggie agreed before checking the time on his phone, his horse-themed lock-screen picture lighting up the dark screen. “Look, I’ve gotta look after Stevie for, like, thirty more minutes until my parents are back home but–”

“Meet me at the skate park at three p.m. on the dot,” Kayla cut him off. “I've got an idea.”

*

Julie: Hey, Luke. I know that you’re probably still not reading these messages but I still need to explain myself. I’m gonna come to yours later and, well, feel free to turn me away at the door but at least give me a chance to explain.

Julie: I can’t promise not to bring a boombox.

Julie: oh my god I can’t believe I just said that

Julie: DON’T WORRY!! I DO NOT OWN A BOOMBOX I SWEAR I’M GOING TO BE NORMAL THIS TIME!!

Julie: you’ve blocked my number idk why I’m panicking

Julie: sorry.

*

Julie nearly dropped her phone into the kitchen sink (where she was meant to be doing the dishes from breakfast) when the little ‘typing’ bubble popped up on Luke’s side. The barely-used yellow sponge bobbed on top of the water as a glass slipped from Julie's grasp - she shouldn't have been attempting to multitask around electronics and bowls full of water, she knew this, but she had too much on her mind to simply enjoy the peace of the kitchen on a Sunday. The stained coffee cups and crumb covered plates could wait.

Luke was typing for the first time in literally twelve hours - Julie had more pressing concerns than a few pieces of dirty cutlery.

*

Luke: I haven’t blocked your number, my phone's been off

Luke: I want to hear you out, but I have a lot of questions. it all feels kind of messed up atm

Luke: can I meet you at that coffee shop by school? My room’s kind of a mess and my mom would freak if she found out I let a guest in there without cleaning it

Luke: I’ll be there @ 2:30??

*

Julie’s heart almost punched right through her ribcage, her stomach flipping in less of the ‘panicking’ way and more of the ‘hoping’ way now.

Had he read her messages? 

Part of her hoped that he had so that he’d be entering this discussion with a positive mindset and an expectation of good news and happy endings.

Part of her hoped that he hadn’t because, well…Julie rambled when she was anxious. 

Her phone pinged again before she could make any more time for worrying. After an abnormally long period of radio silence from Luke, this sudden string of messages was a lot for Julie to process all at once. It almost resembled an actual conversation - and he wanted to see her. 

*

Luke: shame about the boombox tho, that would be kinda iconic x 

*

Oh, god. 

Julie’s face heated up, her skin feeling like a furnace set to full blast as she sunk her head into her hands, the tips of her curls dipping into the soapy water as she groaned. Now she was going to smell like dish soap, and she didn't have time to shower before 2:30! At least it was the nice, sweet-smelling strawberry scented soap that she liked and not the overly bleachy, disinfectant type. 

“Not a lot of scrubbing going on in there,” Carlos called loudly, clearly hoping that their dad or aunt would hear – it was his god-given right as her younger brother to try and get her into as much trouble as possible. But Julie couldn’t really force herself to care at that particular moment in time. She was going to fix this! And also possibly feel that twist of internal cringe for the rest of her life, but she could live with that now. And, hey, maybe they could laugh about it all one day!

One day in the very… very distant future. And not until she actually finished doing the dishes, came up with a carefully written script of everything that she needed to say and considered every single possible misconception that Luke may have had about the facts regarding the past few weeks. She also had to get through yet another explanation of her ridiculous scheming and her poor-decision making a year prior...

But after that, sure, she'd consider seeing the humour. Maybe.

*

Julie: I'll meet you there then!!

Julie: and as a compromise I'll bring my old portable CD player. not quite a boombox but it'll have to do x

*

She hesitated over the last character for an embarrassing amount of time. Luke had punctuated his message with a 'kiss', but maybe it was presumptuous to assume that she should do the same. Or maybe Luke's 'kiss' was an olive branch, a subtle but clear way of showing Julie his willingness to move forward and put this serious misunderstanding behind them

Or maybe it was just a reflexive typing quirk with absolutely no thought behind it and Julie was reading way to deep into it in a major spiral of overthinking,

(Little did she know that Luke, too, had doubted himself as he hit send, worried that wearing his heart on his sleeve so willingly would lead to further hurt. Little did she know that, after this short period of doubt, Luke had comforted himself with a simple thought: "it's Julie." He'd felt hurt, and he'd been frustrated last night but...something made him want to trust her and to show her that he wanted to hear her out, whatever the explanation was. It was a promise.)

*

Alex did not fall off the skateboard when Willie was looking the other way. He didn't. The new scrape on his knee could be very easily explained if he just had a minute to come up with a good enough excuse.

"Have you hurt your knee?" Willie asked, offering Alex a swig from his water bottle as he glanced down towards the newly scuffed hemline of Alex's black shorts. Alex shook his head with a wince that hopefully looked like a smile as he took a long sip of water.

"Nope," he answered. "Y'know, I think I'm getting really good at skateboarding!" he grinned, pushing the board backwards and forwards with one of his feet, the sole of his other shoe firmly planted onto the solid floor of the skating ramp. 

"You sure are," Willie said with a smile. "I'm gonna go fetch my first aid kit though, okay?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as Alex flushed pink. Busted.

"I almost did it right," he grumbled. Willie chuckled, leaning forwards on the tips of his toes to press a gentle, reassuring kiss to Alex's cheek, warmed with mild embarrassment. 

"You really did!" Willie replied. "You just need to build your confidence - once you shake off the hesitation, you'll be skating like a pro."

Alex watched as Willie rifled through his backpack for the first aid kit, trying not to allow his mind to run away with the terrifying thought that Willie needed constant access to a first aid kit. What kind of injuries could a person sustain on a skatepark? Well, judging from the solid, completely un-cushioned surface that he'd fallen onto, there were probably very few injuries that you couldn't sustain. Alex liked his hobbies safe and free from risk - for example, drumming. Drumming was safe and posed very little risk to the safety of others. Apart from that time he got carried away with a solo, loosening his grip on the drumsticks and sending them flying directly into the back of Luke's head, hitting him hard with the tip like a stray dart accidentally hitting a bullseye. 

Alex's chest was suddenly burdened with an uncomfortable weight, a strain of guilt and shame that he'd been trying to distract himself from. Luke. How was Luke, anyway? Alex had texted privately, out of the group chat, but the message hadn't gone through.

"What'cha thinking about?" Willie asked, pulling Alex by the wrist and guiding him towards a bench. Alex sat down, forcing himself not to anxiously bounce his injured knee by gripping the leg above it firmly with one hand as Willie started to wipe at the graze with an antiseptic wipe.

"Nothing," Alex lied, his voice as steady as he could manage. Luckily, he could write off his wince as a reaction to the cold sting of the chemicals being washed over his wound. "Just...ouch, y'know?"

Willie laughed, quiet and low, his cheeks dimpling into the same smile that had caught Alex's attention in the cafeteria over a month ago. He allowed himself a brief reprieve from his worries, enjoying a moment of peace as Willie unwrapped a Pokémon band aid and applied it carefully to his knee.

But peace didn't always last.

"Hey, guys!" a voice cut through the silence, bouncing off the sides of the skating ramp as the tall metal fence creaked open. "Weird seeing you here, huh?" Alex looked up to find that it was Kayla who was speaking with Reggie trailing not far behind her. 

It wasn't really strange, Alex thought; it was pretty much common knowledge that the skatepark was Willie's second home and, if you wanted to find him, looking there was a safer bet than knocking on his front door. He didn't vocalise this thought though, choosing to wave instead.

"Hey!" he and Willie said at the same time, waving as Kayla and Reggie picked up their pace, half-jogging towards their bench.

"Ouch," Reggie said as he was close enough to notice that Alex was in the process of being patched up.

Alex shrugged. "It's no big - I'm learning to skateboard," he said, hoping to sound cool and unbothered by the stinging in his knee. Reggie smirked. 

"I'm a good teacher, promise," Willie laughed as he scrunched up the used wrappers from the band aid and the wipe, shoving them into the bottom of the first aid to be properly disposed of later on. "Injury is just part of the process."

"Speaking of," Kayla interrupted, seeming as though she'd been waiting for the perfect opportunity to say whatever was coming since her arrival. Alex suspected that it wouldn't have much to do with skateboarding injuries. "Me and Reggie were wondering if you could help us with something."

"Sure!" Willie replied automatically, climbing onto the bench to perch himself on the back. Alex reached around to rest a hand on his back, hopefully making his risky sitting position a little more stable. 

"What do you need help with?" Alex asked cautiously - he didn't share Willie's enthusiasm for spontaneity. 

Kayla smiled, all teeth as she began to answer. "So...it's about Flynn and Carrie - oh! And Julie and Luke," she added, looking incredibly pleased with herself as she waited expectantly for an answer from Alex and Willie.

Alex's answer came immediately and without consideration. "Nope! Nope, nope, no way. Not again," he protested, shaking his head firmly.  "I've washed my hands of it. No more pact business, no more plotting."

Reggie raised a suspicious eyebrow. "And what would you mean by that, Mercer?" he asked, placing his hands on his hips as he looked down at Alex.

"Huh?" 

"You said you've 'washed your hands of it', so...wait, did you know?" Reggie gasped, his jaw unhinged as he gawped at Alex with an affronted look.

"Know what?" Alex asked, heat rising as he attempted to figure out exactly what he'd just dropped himself into. "I don't know what you're-"

"You knew about the pact?" Reggie demanded. "Should I feel betrayed? Am I the only person who didn't know about this?"

Willie shrugged. "Luke didn't know about it," he answered, not entirely helpfully. "And Alex only knew about it because, well, he's my boyfriend and it sort of directly affects him, so, y'know."

"Plus," Kayla added, "I only know about it because Flynn talked about it loudly in front of Carrie once and I had to listen to her complain about it for a solid week."

"Right," Reggie said, squinting with an expression of mild betrayal. "I'm gonna try not to feel too left out."

"Oh, I wish I didn't know about it," Alex replied in an attempt at offering some comfort to Reggie. "It's been a total nightmare, man - which is exactly why I'm not getting involved with whatever you guys are about to suggest."

"We just want to-" Kayla started, but Alex, ready to plug his ears with his fingers and sing lalalalalala to block out her explanation, interrupted before she could offer further explanation.

"Nope!" he snapped, voice high pitched and frantic. "I'm not getting dragged into this crap again - it's not worth it. If those guys want to work things out between them, they'll do it."

Willie squeezed Alex's shoulder. "Look," he said, "as much as I admit that a lot of this drama was, uh...partially my fault, I think Alex has a point. I don't want anything to get more messed up than it already has."

"And Luke seemed very messed up about it last night," Alex added. "Just, please don't mess with that, okay? Julie and Luke need to work stuff out and we really shouldn't make things worse."

"Ugh, fine!" Kayla responded. "Fine, whatever - I'll keep my nose out of Julie and Luke's business. But Carrie's my best friend and if this is messing her up too? Well, I think I need to step in."

"You enjoy that," Alex said. "You do what you've gotta do. My hands are washed." He mimed rubbing soap into his hands stubbornly.

Reggie chuckled and Kayla smirked despite herself. "Okay, I get it," she said with a small laugh. "Just let me to clean up that whole mess alone, I get it."

Willie winced. "Sorry for helping to create that mess. My bad." Then, he hastily added, "But only like...50% my bad. For the record."

*

Kayla: Hey Flynn! I need some serious help w/ the art assignment and ur pretty much the expert - do u still have a free tomorrow afternoon? x

Flynn: hiya! yeah sure, I'll meet you in the art room after lunch :D

*

Kayla: Hey Carrie! Do u wanna do some last minute art assignment work tomorrow afternoon? I have a free after lunch x

Carrie: yeah, I'm free

Kayla: art room @ 1?

Carrie: sure x

*

Willie pulled Alex behind the tree at the end of the Mercer's driveway, his heart in his throat as he scanned their surroundings. He'd insisted on walking Alex home from the skatepark, hoping to manufacture the perfect moment to bring up a very important topic.

Alex's mom's car wasn't parked outside the house which meant that she could return from her grocery run at any minute - he had an undetermined short amount of time to do this and he wanted to do it right. 

"Are you okay, Wills?" Alex asked, his eyes flicking between Willie's face and the road behind his shoulders, checking every few seconds for the arrival of his mom's car. "I should really get going."

"I know, I know," Willie replied, his hands still on Alex's wrists. "I just wanted to...oh, crap. I really didn't plan this well enough..." 

Alex's eyebrows creased, a sharp line deepening between them as he worried over Willie's nerves. "What's up? You're making me nervous," Alex chuckled. His forced laughter was clearly an attempt to ease whatever tension had risen but Willie could sense the truth in his confession of anxiety.

"Gah!" The sound burst from Willie's mouth with an involuntary force. "Sorry. Sorry, I don't want to freak you out, it's nothing bad I swear I'm just...I'm just a bit of a disaster to be honest."

Alex laughed, a genuine sound this time. "Same here - look, I promise you can tell me anything, okay?"

Willie nodded, steeling himself with a deep intake of breath. "Actually...I wanted to ask you something."

"Oka-ay," Alex responded, drawing out the vowel as he tilted his head with suspicion and interest. "Ask away."

"So, I was wondering..." Willie paused to squeeze Alex's hands. It wasn't the most ceremonious way to do it, he knew, but he figured that Alex wouldn't be a huge fan of a 'grand gesture'. Just the two of them quietly ducked behind a tree, out of sight, was much more his style. "I wanted to ask...do you want to go to the Halloween ball with me? We can do...matching costumes, and-and we can tell your parents that we're both going solo so all of the pictures of us are like...single guy solidarity, or something. I just want to dance with you, and take stupid school dance pictures and-"

"Willie," Alex interrupted his nervous rambling, an unexpected reversal of roles. His eyes sparkled as he squeezed Willie's hands back, a shaky but positive gesture. "I'll go to the ball with you - I'd love to go with you."

"Really?" Willie checked; Alex couldn't help the burst of laughter that escaped his lips.

"Yes!" Alex reassured. "You're my boyfriend - I'm not gonna go with anyone else, right?"

Willie's shoulders dropped with relief as Alex wound his arms around the back of his neck. "I'm so glad you feel that way," Willie teased, "because I've kind of already picked out our costumes."

"Of course you have." Alex paused very briefly before pulling back. "Look...I know I said no more meddling, but...I think I have to do something."

"Alex," Willie said his name with a hint of nervousness, a subtle warning to not do anything drastic.

"I'm not gonna do anything crazy," Alex promised. "Just...getting everyone on the same page."

*

Alex: carrie!!!!

Carrie: hello? what are you so excited about?

Alex: willie asked me to the ball!!

Alex: guess the pact is off then?

Carrie: oh. that's weird

Carrie: what did he say?

Carrie: NOT an invitation for a word for word recap of the entire proposal - I just mean what did he say about the pact?

Alex: nothing

Alex: but I guess that means julie and flynn are free from their agreement now...jsyk

Carrie: what's that supposed to mean?

Alex: nothing :)

Alex: just an observation. doesn't mean anything

Alex: why? what do YOU think it means

Carrie: you're a pain in the ass. I have to work on my art assignment. see you tomorrow x

Alex: see you :)

Carrie: and stop acting weird

Alex: idk what you mean!!

Alex: just an observation

Carrie: sure it was x

Chapter Text

Luke tapped a rhythm on the coffee shop table with the tips of his fingers, watching the steam slowly rise from his mug of black coffee. He didn't even really like the stuff; it had just seemed like the right thing to order. It wasn't - he'd bought it in the hopes of getting a quick burst of energy but, instead, had just earned himself shaky hands and a heartrate that didn't feel normal. It probably didn't help that he'd already had two full cups since he'd arrived early, wanting to get here before Julie like she had when they went on their ice cream date a few weeks prior.

At exactly two twenty-nine, the bell above the shop door twinkled over the low murmur of the other patrons' conversations and Luke's head snapped up, his eyes no longer fixed on the dark abyss inside his cup but on Julie's face. It was almost an unvoluntary reflex when he stood up, moving abruptly as his chair scraped backwards across the linoleum floor.

"Julie," he said her name as she paused to stand in front of him, as though she didn't know who she was and he had to remind her. He internally scolded himself for not having something more interesting to say, something more substantial. 

"Hey," she replied with a small wave. The clinking sound of her bracelets knocking against one another was familiar to Luke, comforting despite everything that had happened. "I'm just gonna go by myself a drink, okay? I'll be back ASAP."

"Sure," he replied, taking his seat again awkwardly. 

"Do you want anything?" she asked. Despite the temptation to go for coffee number four, he resisted. Maybe he could still the caffeine-induced trembling of his hands by the time she came back with her drink.

He didn't. His knee was still bouncing when she set down a mug of hot chocolate, topped generously with cream and a dusting of chocolate powder, on the table between them. 

"So," she said. It didn't lead to a completed sentence.

"So," he echoed. 

"Luke, I am so sorry," Julie blurted. Straight to it then, it seemed. She was wasting no time as she stirred whipped cream into her drink, probably just for something to do with her hands that wasn't chewing at her fingernails. "I...I don't really know where to start, but I never wanted you to get hurt - I swear." 

"Maybe you should start from the beginning," he suggested, carefully managing his expression and forcing his mouth into a straight line. 

"A very good place to start?" Julie sighed, a regretful expression tugging at her features as she said it. "Sorry...yes. I'll start from the start, but...I'm probably not gonna come out of this looking great."

"I don't care about that, Jules," he reassured her. "I just want to understand what the hell has been going on." His voice was gentle; he'd read through all of Julie's texts and he found himself willing to believe every word in them. He just felt like he deserved to hear it in full and in person. 

And he did; Julie explained everything in great, impeccable detail. He couldn't even interject as she went over every detail of hers and Willie's plan. It was...well, it was baffling. Like something that didn't just happen to people in real life; Luke felt as though he'd been involuntarily planted in the middle of some low-budget rom-com with a questionable plot. Maybe he'd be needing coffee number four, after all. Her recollection of the domino-effect of the past...well, the past year - this had kicked off before he was even a footnote in the plan - seemed carefully rehearsed and thoughtfully structured. She left no stone unturned as she recalled several conversations with Willie, a sleepover, several staged conversations and...Willie being falsely accused of having a secret crush on Luke? How had that gotten lost in translation? He kind of wished he hadn't asked to hear everything then and there all at once - it was the kind of thing best processed in several sittings with scheduled breaks to let everything sink in properly.

When Julie stopped speaking, the story ending at some time last night, Luke finally said, "I just need to know if...if you were ever really interested in, well, us. Like, I just want you to tell me honestly because, look, if you need a date to the dance and you don't like me the way that I like you...I just don't think I can do that. It'll hurt too much," he admitted. The admission caught in his throat and he attempted to mask it with a fake cough. With his eyes glued to a random scuff mark in the wooden table, he didn't notice Julie reaching for his hand until her palm gently rested on the back of his hand.

"I meant what I said last night," she said softly. "My text? I told you that you're the only person I want to take to the dance and I meant it. I know we didn't get off to the most regular start, but none of those dates were pretend to me."

"You're sure I wasn't just a convenient option?" Luke asked; even he felt a little ashamed at the bitterness that he failed to keep out of his tone, leaving a funny taste in his mouth along with the coffee that clung to his tastebuds. "Sorry...look, I want to believe you, seriously. But you have to admit, it's kind of messed up."

"Yep." Julie's answer was simple, punctuated with a slow nod. "I like to think of myself as a very...determined sort of person. Unfortunately, in this particular case, I think that my determination...clouded my judgement. Just a little," she added, holding up her free hand with her thumb and index finger pinched together. The gesture forced a small huff of laughter to escape from Luke's nostrils, the corner of his mouth twitching autonomously. "I am sorry, though. So, super duper unbelievably sorry and I will do literally anything to make it up to you."

Luke nodded, allowing himself to make direct eye contact with Julie for the first time since she'd arrived. "I don't...I don't want you to do anything to make it up to me. Just...thanks for explaining everything to me. I appreciate it, even though it's probably long overdue."

"Luckily, I think I'm swearing off of plotting and scheming for the rest of my life. Honestly," she promised, crossing her heart with an outstretched pinky. "I really hate how much this spiralled out of control; I hate the fact that it's hurt people even more."

"Probably seemed like a great idea at the time," Luke admitted. "But it wasn't."

"Not even slightly," she agreed. "You want to know what the best idea I've had in the past month was, though?" she asked, hesitating before squeezing her fingers around Luke's hand as he turned it over slowly so that their palms were touching. 

"Making me dress up as a woodland creature for your birthday party?" he suggested, attempting some comic relief from the overwhelming heaviness of their conversation. Their other dates (was he counting this as a date?) had been light-hearted and fun; this one felt more real - more serious. 

"Okay, that was pretty genius - I unfortunately can't take all the credit for that idea, though. But, no," she said, getting herself back on track. "The best decision I made this year was deciding to embarrass myself but serenading you in front of the whole school. I don't think I'd do that for anyone else, so...do with that what you will."

"I was pretty epic," he admitted. "Insane, for sure...but epic." Luke paused and Julie didn't attempt fill the silence, a comfortable hush settling between them. "I just have to ask...how did you pick me?"

Julie glanced down, her free hand coming up to her face as she groaned quietly. "Are you fishing for compliments, Patterson?" she asked.

"Yep," Luke admitted with ease. "I just want to be really sure that you like me as much as I like you."

"And how much do you like me?"  Julie asked with an exaggerated bat of her eyelashes.

"Hey - I asked first," Luke teased, his grin stretching wider with every word. 

"Okay, okay," Julie sighed. "You have Willie to thank - him and Alex were in their early talking stage and, well, I guess Alex must've talked you up pretty good to him because within a few days, your Insta was being shoved under my nose. I figured we'd probably have a lot in common and, after getting to know you, I was right." Julie opened her mouth to say more before abruptly closing it again, thinking better of it. It was only a few seconds later that she must've decided that she simply didn't care about self-preservation anymore as she tacked on, "Plus, it helped that you're pretty cute, too."

Luke couldn't help the pleased look that washed over his face, the twinge of pink that flushed across his cheeks. "You think I'm cute?"

"Is that the only part you heard?" Julie asked, one eyebrow raised.

"No," Luke replied. "But I guess we do have a lot in common, so you were right about that."

Julie nodded. "Not to be cheesy or, y'know, presumptuous, considering I accidentally broke your heart last night, but I'm really glad I found someone who understands me, understands that the whole 'music' thing isn't just a hobby. I just feel like you get me, I don't know what it is."

"Oh," Luke answered, his voice a soft whisper. "No, I just meant that we're both cute," he said, unable to stifle the softness in his eyes.

"Can you let me be serious for five seconds?" Julie teased. "I was being all sincere."

"Sorry, sorry. I know." Luke laughed. "I've just had a lot of coffee and I think it's starting to affect my ability to function properly."

"I'll remember to steer you away from the caffeine on our next date," Julie said, hopefully.

"Good plan," Luke replied, an agreement that there would be a next date. "And, Julie?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm, like, really glad that Willie...'introduced us', so to speak."

"Me too," Julie agreed with a small nod.

"Although, I'm pretty sure we would've found each other without his help - just saying," he added. Julie wrinkled her nose, an attempt to prevent a stupid huge grin from cracking across her face. "What? I'm 'being all sincere'," Luke teased, echoing Julie's own words. "Do you not like cheesy Luke? I can put away cheesy Luke if you don't like-"

"No," Julie cut him off with a laugh. "I like cheesy Luke - I really like him, okay?"

"Good," Luke replied. "Wait, do you have that CD player?"

Julie shook her head. "No, I...I was joking, honestly. I didn't think you actually wanted me to-"

"Oh, that's a shame," Luke said with an over-exaggeratedly disappointed exhale. "'Cause, like, when you asked me out for the first time, you kind of did this whole...public, musical proposal thing and, well, I was kinda hoping to do the same thing to ask you to the ball - I even bought a CD and everything."

Julie's eyes widened. "Huh?" was all she could manage to say as Luke slid a CD across the table. It was a blank CD that he'd burned something onto; if the black sharpie ink scrawl on the front of the disk was accurate, it was Frankie Valli's 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You'. Below the song title, Luke had written 'DANCE? Yes- No-', leaving a blank space for her to cross her answer.

"So...is that sort of rabbit-in-headlights expression a yes, or..."

Julie picked up the CD with the tips of her fingers, examining it closely and carefully. "Do...do you have a sharpie?" she asked. "For...for the boxes."

Ah. Crap. "Wait, no...I actually forgot to bring that with me -argh! I knew I was forgetting something," Luke groaned. He couldn't believe he'd ruined his own super-suave plan.

"Well," Julie started with a small smile. "If it helps, I was gonna tick 'yes', so..."

"Yeah," Luke responded, nodding. "That helps a whole lot, actually."

He was pretty sure that the quickened pace of his heart couldn't only be chalked up to excessive caffeine consumption anymore. A new, much more effective cause of his palpitations was to blame; it began with a 'J', ended with an 'E', and made his stomach do flip-flops with nothing more than a smile in his direction.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Kayla?” Flynn stuck her head into the art room. Her nostrils immediately stung with the head-dizzying potency of a whole lot of turpentine and cheap oil paint. “You in there?”

She’d definitely meant that afternoon, right? Flynn reached into her pocket to check the text that Kayla had sent just as a pair of shoes clicked across the linoleum, a voice coming from behind the partition.

“She should be on her–” 

Carrie.

The two girls stared at one another, wide-eyed and alarmed.

“The ball’s in your court.” 

That had kind of been Flynn’s big dramatic line to end all dramatic lines. She wasn’t going to talk to Carrie until she made the first move now. But of course the universe (or Kayla) had to kill her vibe.

“Flynn, I–” Carrie stammered, face flushing pink. As pink as the…wait…peeking through blonde curls were chunky highlights of bubblegum pink. Carrie’d bleached those out a long time ago. “I was just waiting for Kayla; sorry, I can leave.”

Flynn tried to ignore her wave of disappointment. Carrie wasn’t even going to stay and speak to her?

Then it hit her.

“Wait – you’re meeting Kayla?” Flynn folded her arms. “But I’m meeting Kayla.”

It took a few seconds (more like half a minute) for the cogs in both of their minds to click into place and when they did, both of them rolled their eyes in perfect tandem.

“God, I’m gonna kill her,” Carrie huffed.

“Need an accomplice?” Flynn offered, the corner of her mouth twitching. 

Carrie’s frustrated little huff turned into a laugh – only a small one but the smile that didn’t show on her mouth reached her eyes, betraying her attempts to seem entirely annoyed.

“Nothing like a shared enemy to bring people back together, right?” Carrie tried for humour and Flynn could tell that she wasn’t sure if it was the right angle; her uncertainty showed in the pleading look in her eyes, begging for approval.

But Flynn had to stick to her guns. “I meant what I said, you know?” she said, expression serious as she watched Carrie. There were several metres between them where they stood.

“Which part?”

“The part where I said that you’re going to have to do a little more than randomly decide to be nice to me,” Flynn reminded her, guarded once more. It would’ve been too easy for her to just let Carrie back into her life and she had to remind herself why, exactly. She had to protect her heart.

“I know,” Carrie replied. “I heard it, loud and clear. Several times, in fact…” Carrie said that last part almost to herself, muttered under her breath.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Carried sighed. “Nothing…nothing, it’s just…something I overheard at the party.” She really was making no sense. “Don’t worry about that, though, it’s my problem.”

“Oka-ay?” Flynn dragged out the vowel, eyeing Carrie suspiciously. 

“Actually,” Carrie seemed to straighten up suddenly, waving her hand to direct Flynn into the next room. “I wanted to show you something.”

Still feeling suspicious, Flynn followed Carrie. The tables were covered with canvases, almost-finished portraits of their classmates waiting to be handed in in less than a week. Flynn had already finished hers; it was drying on the rack covered with a protective sheet. 

“Here.” Carrie stopped in front of an easel, picking at her fingernails and shifting on her feet, looking almost insecure. It was a look that Flynn hadn’t seen on Carrie in…well, since way back when they were still friends and Carrie was fun and kind rather than a Sharpay Evans wannabe. “It’s not perfect, obviously – I’ve never been great with, like, capturing likenesses or whatever but, I don’t know, I’m kinda proud of it. I guess…” she trailed off, shutting up her own nervous ramble by sticking her fingernails between her teeth and biting down.

Flynn joined her behind the easel, slightly uncertain as she turned to look at what Carrie was showing her. 

Staring back at her from the canvas was a face that, while missing certain distinguishable details, was undoubtedly Carrie Wilson. 

The version of Carrie staring back at Flynn from the canvas was not a Carrie attempting to intimidate, daring you to step to her or even look her in the eyes. No, this Carrie was smiling brightly, her nose scrunching and – Flynn smirked – still staring down the camera like she knew she was cool. A different kind of cool to the Carrie that they had come to know over the past few years, though; less carefully curated perfection and more self-confidence in her own little quirks.

The painted cheek was smeared with a blob of bright pink frosting, hands raised in little peace signs adorned with friendship bracelets and glitter-pen doodles.

Julie used to grab their hands – Flynn, Carrie and Willie – and scribble little purple stars on them, sometimes butterflies when they could sit still for long enough. Flynn recognised the recreation of them in shimmery acrylics on the canvas. 

She also recognised some of the bracelets, specific combinations of beads that she’d thought long and hard about as she assembled them. 

Then there was the one that Flynn had wondered about, buried amongst colourful plastic. A shimmery pink and purple bracelet made from heart-shaped beads with three round white beads at the centre – a ‘C’ and an ‘F’ divided by a bead printed with a little orange heart. 

“Why are you showing me this?” Flynn whispered, longing to reach out and touch the painted version of the bracelet; maybe Carrie hadn’t tossed it when then broke up.

Flynn hadn’t tossed hers. She’d shoved it under her mattress where she didn’t have to look at it but would always know where to find it if she ever needed it again. 

Carrie glanced out of the corner of her eye, maybe checking to see if Flynn had said it with annoyance or…or maybe something else.

Definitely something else.

“I just thought, well, actions speak louder than words, right?” Carrie echoed Flynn’s words from Julie’s party. “And don’t worry, this isn’t, like, my only action. Obviously. I just…I just wanted you to see it.”

Flynn nodded wordlessly. She couldn’t quite decide how to react to this.

“I thought…well, the project was about identity, right? I’ve been thinking about who I am and who I want to be and, well, I guess it’s helped me to realise who I don’t want to be, you know?”

“And who do you not want to be?” Flynn pressed. 

Carried inhaled slowly before exhaling, her knuckles grazing Flynn’s as she said: “Someone who you can’t stand to be around, I guess.” Flynn sucked in a breath. “And this Carrie, she’s like…she’s a little more like the Carrie you liked being around. She’s probably the Carrie I liked being a whole lot more than I like being…I don’t know, mean, Head Bitch on Campus Carrie.”

A smile slowly crept onto Flynn’s face; by the time she realised, it was too late to hide it. “And who’s this new Carrie who only speaks in third person?”

Carrie huffed, tutting. “Oh, come on – you know what I mean.”

“Okay, sorry,” Flynn laughed properly. “Sorry, I’m teasing. I know what you mean. And I…I like the sound of it.”

“Good. I want to be…nicer. The kind of person that Carrie of two years ago wouldn’t hate – I haven’t been very true to her recently and I think you’ve suffered for it.”

Flynn nodded. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned that.” It wasn’t a snippy rebuttal. Flynn’s eyes were softer as she turned to face Carrie properly. 

“Well…I mean it. I’ve missed you and the others. Especially you, if I’m allowed to say that.” Carrie smiled with her teeth, her cheeks round and pink.

“Hmmm,” Flynn hummed. “I’ll allow it.”

“Good.”

“And I like the portrait, by the way,” Flynn added. “It’s very…you.”

Carrie flushed even deeper under the praise, fiddling with something beneath the sleeve of her jacket. 

“I’m glad you think so,” Carrie replied quietly. “Can I…can I see yours?”

Nodding, Flynn grabbed her by the wrist and guided her towards the drying rack where her painting was waiting, concealed by a piece of scrap fabric. Flynn pulled it back, lifting up her painting to show Carrie. 

The canvas was bright and busy, neon shades so bright that they practically glowed against Carrie’s face as she leaned in closer to see the details. Scrawled across the canvas was an eclectic mix of everything ‘Flynn’, framing the stylised version of her portrait in the center. A huge smile and a wink as she leaned forwards, painted in rich, saturated shades. 

“It’s perfect,” Carrie said, grinning. “It’s just like you.”

Obviously, Flynn knew that Carrie was commenting on the likeness but she also supposed that she’d earned the right to tease Carrie just a little.

“Are you saying that I’m perfect, Wilson?” she challenged with a single, arched eyebrow. 

Stammering, Carrie stepped away from the painting. “I- uh- no! No, that’s not what I–” she caught herself. “Well, not that I’m saying that you’re not, just– ugh!” There was that familiar Carrie-special, the eye roll and the frustrated scoff only, this time, it was flustered rather than judgemental. “I just meant that it’s cool, okay?”

“So you think I’m cool?” 

“Shut up.” 

Flynn laughed – she couldn’t help it. The sound just escaped her, a bubble of delight as Carrie stared her down with the least amount of fire and sharpness that Flynn had seen in her eyes in a long time. And then, despite herself, Carrie joined in, sighing as she gave in and dropped her facade of annoyance. 

When their laughter faded, Carried cleared her throat before looking up at Flynn through her eyelashes. There was that uncertainty again, that insecurity. “Flynn?”

“Yeah?”

“I know that like…” A pause. Carrie inhaled shakily. “I know that we’ve only just kind of…”

“Called a truce?”

“Yes, exactly,” Carrie said with a nod. “But, look, you kind of made it clear that I have to make the first move here and, I happen to know that you’re gonna be at the Halloween ball anyway, so…” she trailed off.

Flynn’s heart fluttered in her ribcage and she bounced on her heels. “So…are you going to finish that mysterious sentence, or…”

Carrie nodded, looking up at Flynn properly. “Yeah. Yeah, I am. I just wanted to ask if you, you know, wanted to be at the Halloween ball, like, with me.”

Flynn had guessed that she was going to say that but it didn’t make it any less surprising to hear it. 

Her stunned silence obviously freaked out Carrie because she just kept talking – waffling, even. It was sort of disconcerting to hear Carrie Wilson waffle. 

“And, I mean, obviously it doesn’t have to mean that we’re girlfriends again or anything. I’m only asking you to be my date – for now,” she tacked on at the end. “I would like to…at some point, maybe we can think about trying again. I hope.” 

“So the ball would be like…a trial run?” Flynn offered. 

“If you’d like it to be?”

“Hmmmm…” Flynn folded her arms and tilted her head, making a big show of pretending to weigh her options. “I guess that depends.”

“On…?”

“Did you keep the Halloween costume we had ready before we broke up?”

Carrie raised an eyebrow. “Duh.”

“Well,” Flynn said with a shrug. “I guess that settles it, then.”

“It’s a date.”

“It’s a date.” 

They both smiled, obviously restraining what could’ve been a much bigger grin. The muscles in Flynn’s cheeks ached with the supreme effort to not fully beam. To grin like an absolute idiot. 

Things had been really awful for the past year or so and Flynn was just so ready to put it all behind them. To heave the sigh of relief that had been begging to be expelled for the past few weeks since she’d overheard Alex and Willie in the music room. She’d been tempted to brush it off as a misunderstanding, a lie. But something in her wanted it to be true.

And it really was. It was true and Carrie liked her and she wanted to fix things between them. 

Trial run. Sure. But Flynn already knew she planned to renew her membership. 

“You know,” Flynn said slowly, breaking the silence gently. “We may be…trial running it and everything–”

“Which is definitely for the best.”

“Oh, totally,” Flynn agreed. “But…I mean…that doesn’t mean that we can’t kiss, right?”

Carrie did a visible double take. “I– I think that’s allowed.”

“Right. You don’t have to be girlfriends to kiss, as far as I know.”

“Kissing is kissing, not dating,” Carrie agreed, mouth twitching as her eyes flicked to Flynn’s lips.”

“Totally.”

“Definitely.”

Flynn couldn’t have said who moved first, only that when Carrie’s lips met hers, she tasted bubblegum and peppermint mixed with strawberry lipgloss, a combination that really shouldn’t have worked but it just did. 

It really, really did. 

Sighing into the kiss, Flynn wrapped her arms around Carrie, allowing her feet to be lifted off the ground as Carrie tightened the embrace. 

It had been a bit of a mess up until now – a total disaster. But this, this kiss between with her ex-girlfriend…her not-not-girlfriend…it was Flynn’s perfect mess.

They stayed like that for several minutes, at least, swapping lipgloss as Flynn grinned against Carrie’s mouth, their teeth clicking together clumsily. Neither of them minded. They didn’t pull away from one another until the bell rang, signalling the end of the day. Flynn didn’t really want to go home but she had to facetime Willie and Julie immediately. 

“You know,” Flynn said. “We kind of have Alex and Willie to thank for this.”

Carrie’s forehead creased, her eyebrows drawing together. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I never would’ve known that you still liked me if I hadn’t overheard them talking about it, like, really loudly in the music room a few weeks back – you know the day I bumped into you in the bathroom? I’m surprised you opened up to Alex that early, honestly.”

The way that Carrie squinted suggested that something about what Flynn had said smelled very fishy to her. “Yeah, that’s because I didn’t.”

“Huh? So why would he have told Willie that–?”

“Have you spoken to Julie and Willie about me, by any chance?”

Flynn snorted. “In what context? Because I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve done my fair share of bitching lately.”

“Right…interesting.”

“Why did you say it like that?” Carrie folded her arms. “Carrie, what is it?”

Pursing her lips, still squinting, Carrie merely shook her head. “I think we need to talk to our friends about meddling.”

“Wait. You mean–” Flynn was reeling, something slotting into place. “What did Willie and Julie tell you?”

“Nothing,” Carrie answered. “Not to my face, anyway.”

And then it dawned on Flynn. Julie and Willie had been acting a little…off, lately. Julie was an absolute mess at her party, like she was…like she was feeling guilty about something. 

Flynn felt her eyes grow at least two sizes. “Oh, they didn’t.” (They absolutely did.) “Holy shit!”

*

GROUP CHAT: double trouble + their roadie 

Flynn: so…

Willie: ooooo not the one word + ellipses +still typing

Willie: *joker voice* y so mysterious?

Julie: yes hello what’s going on??

Flynn: do y’all have dates to the halloween ball?

Julie: whyyyyy do u ask?

Willie: do U?!

Flynn: cut the crap.

Flynn: I know what u did…

Julie: gulp.

Willie: way 2 sound not guilty, jules

Julie: first. Is it good news or bad news?

Flynn: …

Willie: ur killin me here, flynniiiieeeee

Flynn: it might be good news. might have a date.

Flynn: but i still know what u did

Julie: but r u GLAD we did it?? 

Willie: 2 thank or not 2 thank?? that is the question

Flynn: I may be slightly glad.

Flynn: SLIGHTLY!!!

Julie: YAY!! LOVE WINS!! 

Willie: LESBIANISM!!!!

Flynn: y’all are weird

Flynn: I also love u

Willie: love ya bestie

Julie: I love u sooooo much pls forgive us omg

Flynn: yeah yeah

Flynn: just mind ur damn business next time ohhh my days

Willie: sowwy :( no can do :( i luurve getting up in ur lesbian business

Flynn: and what if i got in ur GAY business, wilfred?

Willie: not my name…

Willie: and what gay business who says I’ve got gay business

Julie: HAHAHAHA SHE’S SO ONTO YOU, WILFRED!!

Flynn: careful. Don’t think i don’t know ur bi business, jules.

Julie: gulp…

Julie: wait. HOW?!

Flynn: a cute li’l birdie told me ;)

Chapter Text

EPILOGUE

OCTOBER 31st, 2024

Reggie handed his phone over to Mrs. Jeffries, showing her how to work the camera before dashing over to his group of friends. They were a significantly larger group than they were last year, all in full costume with matching masks (it had been difficult for Reggie to design a Star Wars mask to go with his costume but he always rose to a challenge.)

He slotted himself right between Luke and Alex, reaching across so that he could give Bobby bunny ears with his fingers. He had, of course, begged Bobby to be the Han Solo to his Luke Skywalker and Kayla’s Princess Leia.

“Come on, man! You don’t have a date and we’re doing a whole thing – platonic matching costumes! Please!”

“I hate dressing up.”

“It’s Halloween,” Kayla reminded him. “Stop being a square.”

So there was a Star Wars original trio among the group; Carrie and Flynn were perfectly matched as Princess Bubblegum and Marceline respectively, their costumes obviously having taken the longest to make; Willie and Alex were bedsheet ghosts, a fact that had not impressed Flynn:

“What if when I’m an old lady I can’t remember who the gay ghosts were that I used to hang out with at school? What then?”

“Oh please,” Willie had said with a wink. “I’m the kinda gay ghost a person just doesn’t forget.” 

They all just looked so stinkin’ cute – especially Julie and Luke who had understood the ‘masked ball’ assignment the best in matching Romeo + Juliet garb. 

“It was like…forbidden love,” Julie had claimed, leaning into Luke’s side as he wound an arm around his waist. 

“Forbidden by who, exactly?” Carried asked, trying not to raise her eyebrow judgementally and, unfortunately, failing pretty miserably.

“Herself,” Willie added helpfully. 

"Hey!" Julie argued. "You made that pact too!"

Taking back his phone, Reggie clicked through the photos that Mrs. Jeffries had taken, trying to pick a favourite to print for them all.

He just couldn’t pick one. They were all perfect. They were all of his favourite people – yes, people who had caused him a total headache recently with their romantic nonsense but still. He loved those absolute fools. 

They were his absolute fools. Affectionately. 

Reggie slid his phone back into the pocket of his Luke Skywalker trousers, allowing himself to be dragged onto the dancefloor by Bobby and Kayla. 

Around them, the others danced too, to varying degrees of success: Willie and Alex had given up on actually trying to follow the rhythm of the music, managing to trip up on their bedsheets every time they moved too much too quickly so instead opting for steady bopping of the head; Flynn and Carrie flung their arms in the air, the only members of the group actually putting in an effort to dance well – probably the only people in the gym, for that matter; and Julie and Luke swayed off to one side, completely wrapped up in one another as they pressed their foreheads together, smiling and chatting to one another under the loud thumping bass of the music.

Their dance was probably a little slow for the song that was playing but they didn’t seem to notice. Not as Julie pushed herself up onto her tiptoes in her hand-embroidered white converse, tilting her chin to reach Luke’s lips. She didn’t quite make it until he leaned down, too, meeting her in the middle sweetly as Reggie dragged his eyes away.

He didn’t need to watch to be glad that they had finally gotten their acts together. 

It had only taken weeks of a very stressed and mopey Luke. If that was what romance was all about…Reggie didn’t think he could deal with all of that.

Or maybe it was just the very particular brand of ‘weird’ in his friend group…his new and improved friend group, what, with all of the amazing people who had been added to it recently.

It had been a pretty wild few months but it hadn’t all been bad. And it couldn’t be said that it hadn’t had a happy ending. 

“Guys,” Reggie said, turning to Kayla and Bobby. “We should make a pact.”

Bobbie stared, mouth agape. “Are you out of your damn mind?”

“Yeah,” Kayla seconded. “What he said.”

Reggie huffed. “Not that kind of pact. Just…we should make a pact that we’ll never, like, make a pact, right?”

Kayla and Bobby blinked, glancing over at one another before turning back to Reggie. “That makes no sense,” Bobby said. “But sure. A ‘no pact’ pact.”

“Pacts are a bad idea,” Kayla agreed. “No more pacts.”

Reggie needed that in writing, signed by every single one of them. No. More. Pacts.

[Exeunt.]