Chapter Text
“Dad?” Ray looked up from his laptop. Julie was standing on the other side of the table, bouncing on her toes. “I need to tell you about something. It’s… kinda important.” She tapped her fingers against her forearm. Ray frowned and closed his laptop, leaning forward in his chair.
“Of course,” he told her. “What’s the matter?”
Julie glanced away, still fidgeting. She was silent for a moment. “Um, I think it’s best if we talk in the studio? This isn’t really a kitchen conversation.” Her eyes darted over to the window beside them. Ray agreed immediately, getting to his feet. His work could wait. Something that made Julie this anxious was much more important. She led him down to the garage, muttering under her breath. Jules closed the door behind him.
“What do you want to tell me? I’m all ears.”
She took a breath. “Um, you should probably sit down.” Ray nodded and spun the armchair around to face her. He took a seat and gestured for her to take the floor. She twisted the ring on her finger and gave one last glance around the room. “Okay. So… You remember when you first found out about my band and you asked if you could meet the guys?” He nodded again. “Well… do you still want to?”
Ray blinked. Is this what she was so concerned about? “Of course! It’s like I said, they bought my little niña back. I’d love to meet them.” Julie smiled slightly at that. “They’re from Sweden, right? Are they gonna be flying in? Because I can pick them up from the airport if they need a lift. Is their number still your old one so we can contact them? Oh, and do they have anywhere to stay?”
She waved a hand in front of her. Some of the tension had started to leave her shoulders. “No, uh, you don’t have to worry about anything like that. It’s gonna sound… weird if I tell you, so I’m just gonna show you instead, okay?” She scratched the back of her neck. “You ready?” Ray was about to answer, but it was like she was talking to someone else. “Don’t freak out.” That bit was definitely directed at Ray.
Julie took another breath and held a hand out. She closed it and a familiar dull light pulsed beside her. Ray jumped back as the band appeared out of nowhere. He half expected the music to kick in. He laughed, running a hand through his hair. “Wow! I’m never gonna get used to that! They’re so realistic!” He’d always figured that if he got up close, there’d be something uncanny about the holograms. But even a matter of feet away it was like they were in the room. “Y’know, you’ve gotta tell me how you do this hologram stuff.”
The tallest of the band leaned forward to look at her. “Told you he wouldn’t get it.” The boy beside Julie smacked his chest with their linked hands. Jules had talked about him more than enough for Ray to know he was Luke.
That’s when he noticed it. Luke and Julie were holding hands. He may not know much about holograms, but that shouldn’t be possible. They were just light. She shouldn’t be able to touch him. He looked around the studio. The hologram projector was in the corner, unplugged and facing a wall. But… what does that mean?
“These are Luke, Alex, and Reggie,” she said. The boy at the end of the line waved excitedly when Julie said his name. “And the truth is, they’re not holograms... They’re ghosts.” Ray stared at them all. Julie swallowed and glanced up at Luke. He gave her a smile and adjusted their hands to link their fingers together. She turned back to Ray. “Normally I’m the only one who can see them, but ever since the Orpheum, I can make them visible whenever we touch. I know it sounds insane, but it’s the truth. And they’re my family. Please don’t be mad that I didn’t tell you.” That sentence was all it took to break through his shock.
Ray slowly pushed up from the chair. Julie’s eyes followed him as he approached. He opened his arms out to her and she immediately jumped into his embrace, burying her face into his chest. There was a soft poof as the boys disappeared. “I could never be mad at you, mija,” he told her. “I may really not know what’s going on, but I believe you.”
“You do?” The doubt in her voice was enough to break his heart. So this was what she was afraid of. She didn’t want him to think she was going off the deep end.
“Of course I do. And if I’m honest, it’s kind of a relief.” Julie pulled away just far enough to look up at him in confusion. “I may have overheard you talking to Flynn about them a couple times,” he admitted. “At least now I don’t have to worry about your friend not eating enough. Unless ghosts do have to eat. If they do, I can put out plates for them too. The table should be big enough.”
Jules laughed and blinked some tears out of her eyes. “No, they don’t eat.”
Ray thought for a moment. “I’m still gonna put plates out for them. They don’t get to skip family meals.” He glanced out at where the boys used to be, as if hugging Julie would give him the chance to see what she could. His daughter had been able to see ghosts for months now. Actual, literal ghosts. They’re real. It should change something. It should scare him. Worry him. Why were they here? But then he looked back down at his daughter and he realized. Swedish holograms or ghosts, he didn’t care. They’re still the people who saved her life, brought music back to his family. And that was all that mattered. Finally she let go of him. “Am I gonna be able to talk to them, then?” He asked.
She looked over at the empty space. Her content smile turned awkward. “Uh, turns out now’s not actually the best time for them. Maybe tomorrow?”
“Whenever’s best,” he agreed. “I love you, Jules.”
“I love you too, Dad.” Ray held up his index finger. She mirrored him, bumping their fingers before hooking them together.
“Tell the boys thank you for me... If they’re not still here.” She ducked her head as he started heading back to the house.
She came back in an hour or so after he did, leaving the boys in the garage where they’d apparently been living for the last three months. Carlos was already in bed, so they had a longer talk about this whole situation. She didn’t know much about the rules of her ghost band. Even the boys didn’t really understand what was going on - though from what she’d told him, that was nothing new. Apparently they spent more time talking about how Rose had decorated the studio than figuring out how anything worked. Fortunately, though, Alex had agreed to ask a friend of his if they knew anything about it. The fact that there was a whole ghost world beyond the three boys was something that Ray didn’t really want to think about too much. It didn’t stop him from staying up thinking about it all night.
Making breakfast was the easiest way to avoid falling any further down that rabbit hole. Flynn had slept over last minute after their conversation, and he could hear their muffled voices through the ceiling. Apparently she and Carlos were already acquainted with the boys. Ray couldn’t help but be relieved that Julie at least had people to talk to before he knew about all this.
He took the pan off the heat and headed up the stairs. He passed Carlos on his way, and he just nodded as Ray told him about the food.
Julie’s door was ajar when he got to her room. Ray knocked and pushed it fully open. She and Flynn were sitting cross-legged on the floor beside each other, but they weren’t the only ones there. Alex was on the other side of Julie, their knees pressed against each other to make him visible. Someone that Ray didn’t recognize was leaning against Alex’s arm. They looked like they’d been saying something. As soon as they realized Ray was there, the smile froze on their face and the light flickered above his head. By the time he looked back at the kids, the new person had disappeared. Julie and Alex shared a look. The ghost nodded and followed the other into nothingness.
He couldn’t help but feel a twang of guilt. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you guys. Just wanted to say breakfast is almost ready.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Julie nodded. She tried to smile, but it looked forced. He had a feeling it was related to that other ghost. He wanted to ask if they were alright, but the idea of asking when they might still be in the room seemed a bit weird, especially since they didn’t seem that interested in talking to him. So instead he just tapped on the side of the door and went back to finish breakfast.
The two of them came downstairs a few moments later. Julie stopped halfway into the kitchen and sighed. “Dude, have you been here this whole time?” She shook her head with a smile as Ray instinctively looked around the room.
“They’re here?” He couldn’t keep the surprised edge out his voice.
She walked up and leaned over the counter, placing her hand on the air. The rocker-looking boy pulsed into existence beside him. “Hi Ray! Hi Carlos!” He waved with a smile. Carlos looked up just long enough to nod a greeting to him.
Ray blinked. “Wow. Hi. Reggie, right?” His face lit up and he nodded eagerly.
“Reg, c’mere, I can’t keep leaning over the counter.” He vanished in the ghosts’ signature dull ball of light and she sat down next to Flynn. A moment later, he reappeared on the chair beside her. Even looking at the hologram-ghosts, it was hard to believe they were real. The fact that Julie had spent so long with these boys and he hadn’t even known who - or what, more accurately - they were didn’t seem possible.
“So. Is this sort of thing normal for you guys?” Ray asked. The kids all looked at each other for a few seconds. Carlos was the first one to start nodding.
Flynn rested their arms on the counter. “Pretty much. The guys like hanging out with us.”
“Are there… any other ghosts here?” He couldn’t help but glance around the room again. Flynn and Julie looked at each other.
“No, Dad,” Jules smiled, “Alex went to the skate park with Willie and Luke’s gone to visit his parents.” He took a second to let that sink in. His parents were still around? Did they know that they were ghosts? The boys only looked a couple of years older than Julie. Losing Rose had been hard enough, he couldn’t even imagine how he’d cope if it had been Julie instead. He probably would have broken. Forcing himself to focus on dishing up took more effort than he thought he was capable of.
Reggie didn’t seem to notice his distraction. He just bounced in his seat and grinned up at Ray. “Yep!” he nodded. “I’m the only one here. It’s nice to finally talk to you though!” He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting from him, but this sort of excitable genuinity certainly hadn’t been it.
“You too, Reggie.” If he was happy before, he turned practically ecstatic after he said that.
He nudged Julie’s arm with a confident smirk. “Told you me and your dad are pals. It’s not one-sided.” It sounded like it was supposed to be a whisper, but he missed the mark by a mile. Flynn’s expression turned slightly pained as Julie buried her face in her hands.
“Busted,” Carlos sang under his breath and started eating his eggs. Ray looked at Julie in confusion. She dropped her head to the counter for a second then sat back upright.
“Reggie… likes hanging out with you,” she started. “Pretty much whenever we’re not rehearsing, he’s in here. Like this. Just, y’know… invisible.” Oh. Right. Reggie rocked from side to side, still completely happy and naïve.
Maybe part of him felt a bit weirded out by that. At least, it definitely should have. One of his daughter’s ghost bandmates had been spending time with him for months on end without him even realizing. It should have been weird. But after everything he’d learned over the last twelve hours, it was just… another thing he had to understand. This new world that he was living in, that his family had been living in without him, was full of more questions than answers. And he had to accept that if he was going to make it through fully intact. Apparently one of those questions was why Reggie was so eager to hang out with him. He may not get anything about these new laws of the universe, but teenagers? Teenagers he could understand. At least a little.
“Huh. Okay. That’s cool.” He nodded and finished dishing up for Julie. The three kids looked at each other in confusion as Reggie grinned. Apparently none of them had expected him to get over that so quickly. “So, you guys got anything coming up? Got my new camera coming tomorrow.” He drummed his fingers against the table in excitement.
“Oh yeah!” Carlos sat up. “I’m playing against some kids from Burbank next Saturday. Danny’s been wanting us to record a training match so we can show our coach.”
Ray clicked and shot finger guns at him. “I’m there, kiddo.” Carlos smiled. “What about the band?” Julie, Flynn, and Reggie glanced at each other, expressions calling.
“We, uh, we wanted to make sure you were okay with everything before we booked another gig,” Jules told him. He knew her well enough to recognize her fake nonchalance. If she and Flynn were bad at hiding their concern, Reggie was even worse. He sat fidgeting with his fingers as he stared down at the counter, face turned carefully blank. He cleared his throat and put on a smile.
“Actually, I’ll go see if Luke’s back,” he offered. “We can look for some gigs coming up. Carlos, can we borrow your computer?”
Carlos shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Just stay off music sites though, my cookies are completely messed up. I keep getting ads about t-shirts for bass guitarists born in December.” Reggie saluted and vanished. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Carlos’ laptop lift off the kitchen table. It disappeared a moment later and Julie shook her head.
Something clicked in his mind. “Wait, are the boys the ones who’ve been making my shirts go missing?”
“If you have to ask, the answer’s probably yes,” Flynn commented as she leaned over the counter to grab the salt. Julie just nodded and carried on with her breakfast. There were a hundred or more questions still running through his mind. How old even were these ghosts? Was Reggie okay? Why did they choose his daughter as the person they attached onto? If the dead could come back as ghosts, did that mean…? No. That was impossible. It had to be. She would have given him a sign by now. He pursed his lips and turned his focus to his own food.
After a while, Julie hopped up from her chair and circled the counter. “Thank you, Dad. For everything.” She threw her arms around him, and suddenly all of his concerns didn’t seem to matter. She was still his little girl, and she trusted him enough to let him into this new world. It didn’t matter why it was happening. “Flynn, wanna come check on the guys?”
Flynn got up and held a hand out. Julie took it without hesitation. “Do you even have to ask? Mama needs her eye candy. See you later!” With that, the two of them headed out to the studio. Carlos paused and looked up at Ray.
“What does eye candy mean?” He asked.
Ray pursed his lips. “I’ll tell you when you’re your sister’s age. Now, I’ve gotta get some work done. And you’ve got homework.” Carlos gave an exaggerated groan and went back upstairs. With that, Ray got to work.