Work Text:
Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did
Ha, time for a little revenge
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The story starts when it was hot and it was summer and
I had it all, I had him right there where I wanted him
Everyone knew that Julie and Luke were going to get together at the end of the summer.
Even Julie and Luke.
The two had always had this anxious energy around them since the day that Julie Molina finally sang nine months after her mother’s death and joined Sunset Curve (although it was changed afterward to Julie and the Phantoms). It seemed that everyone in the school was holding their breaths, waiting for the two of them to finally get together. There may or may not had even been a betting pool going around.
And Reggie may or may not have started it.
Anyways, they had always been incredibly annoying to be around. But this summer was even worse.
It was the summer before senior year, and everyone was excited and determined to make their last summer before they all headed on their separate ways their best. Parties and bonfires were being planned for every weekend. Beach trips and movie nights at least once a week.
And a lot of songwriting.
That’s where everyone who cared enough was speculating that Julie and Luke had grown even closer.
At least three times a week the two teenagers were up-all-night writing song after song for the band.
And everyone figured that there was definitely some flirting going on, some more than friendly touches and boundaries crossed, and definitely some gross eye contact and longing stares.
Their closest friends didn’t even have to speculate, because they one hundred percent knew that it was going on because Julie and Luke would tell them, separately.
And their closest friends didn’t know what would be worse, Julie and Luke awkwardly pretending that they weren’t something more.
Or them acknowledging that they were something more.
Either way, Alex, Reggie, and Flynn all loved their two friends, but God it was nauseating.
She came along, got him alone and let's hear the applause
She took him faster than you can say "Sabotage"
It all came to a head at Carrie Wilson’s end-of-summer party.
The friends had grown closer to Carrie, specifically Alex and Julie, after Flynn and her started dating which surprised everyone, but also made a ton of sense.
People would look back at that night and swear that Julie and Luke had to have been drunk. That had to have been the only explanation.
Except they weren’t. At every party, they would draw straws, and Julie and Luke had been the ones given the sober friend duties of the night including being the designated driver and also making sure that their friends had fun, but not too much fun.
And maybe if one of the others had been the sober friend for the night, things would have gone differently, but there was nothing that they could do about it now.
“Hey, what are you doing over here?” Julie appeared in front of Luke, who was sitting on a bench on the outside of the Wilson’s massive yard.
“It was getting pretty crowded and hot in there. Just wanted some fresh air,” Luke told her, patting the seat next to him which she gladly took.
“Yeah same,” Julie smiled. “Although I wasn’t planning on going this far until I saw you.”
“Are you having a good time?” Luke asked, scooching closer to her so that their legs were almost touching.
“Yeah despite the fact that just about all of Los Feliz High is here,” she gave a little laugh.
“Yeah, Carrie sure does know how to throw a party.” Julie just simply nodded and the two of them didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes, just enjoying the distant sounds of their drunk and screaming peers. Luke let the late-night August breeze hit him and he felt his face cool slightly, but it was hard when the girl he was in love with was right next to him.
The breeze got to Julie a lot faster than Luke.
“Shit, you are freezing,” Luke realized, placing a hand gently against her exposed arm. Julie tried to act like she wasn’t, but she had her arms wrapped around herself, her crop top and shorts not protecting her from much. “Here take my jacket,” Luke offered, starting to take off the flannel he always wore.
“Oh no I’ll be fine,” Julie replied, her teeth clicking together slightly. “Plus, then you will be cold. All you have is a cut-off under there.”
“I’ll be fine, I’m overheating anyways,” Luke finished taking off the flannel and rotated it in his hands until it was ready and open for Julie to put her arms in.
Avoiding eye contact, Julie accepted it, letting Luke help her put it on. It was already big on Luke and so it pooled at the bottom of the bench. She pulled it across her torso, forgoing the buttons, and let her now covered arms start to heat up. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Luke beamed. Given the opportunity to resituate himself after helping her into his shirt, Luke got even closer to her, so that their legs were definitely touching, and then moved his arm so that his hand was laying flat on the bench on the other side of her, his arm diagonally going down her back.
Glad for the darkness making her facial features harder to read, Julie leaned into him slightly so that she wasn’t full-on cuddling with him, but contact was definitely made.
They continued in silence for a couple more minutes, neither really knowing what to say, too preoccupied with the contact they were making with one another.
“I thought of some lyrics for Edge of Great,” Julie broke the silence, almost in a whisper.
“Yeah,” Luke raised an eyebrow although Julie probably wouldn’t see.
“Yeah, I wrote it in my notes app for later. Figured we should probably enjoy the last party of the summer with our friends instead of writing for the millionth time.”
“Maybe.”
“Please tell me you didn’t bring your guitar?” Julie turned her head so that she could see his face.
“I promise I didn’t,” he assured her. “I figured Trevor Wilson or Bobby would have one laying around to borrow.”
Julie rolled her eyes. “Of course.” She was not surprised one bit. Luke couldn’t be too far from a guitar. “Going to play Wonderwall at the bonfire?”
“You know what, maybe I will,” he teased. They both looked over at the bonfire across the yard, closer to the house, and Luke sighed. “Speaking of which, I should probably go check on the guys. Reggie is stumbling all over the place he looks like he is about to fall into the fire.”
Julie bit her lip and cringed slightly. She didn’t want this moment to end but she knew it needed to. “I should probably check on Flynn. She was playing pong and she isn’t very good so she is probably a mess right now.”
“Yeah, she talks a lot of shit but she has no aim,” Luke laughed slightly.
“Just don’t tell her that,” she agreed. “Here, you want your shirt back?” Julie started to move to take the flannel off.
“Naw, keep it, I’m heading over to the bonfire remember I won’t need it,” he replied and then stood. “And you look better in it anyway,” he shot her a wink that she barely made out in the dark and headed over to the fire, leaving Julie slightly dazed.
Oh boy.
“Come on Flynn, you need some air,” Julie dragged her best friends towards the patio door about five minutes later. She had found her friend pretty inebriated and slightly upset after Carrie had told her that she loved her, but she wasn’t going to be her pong partner because she had a reputation to uphold. The reputation being that she was the champion.
“Ugh fine,” Flynn cried out. Once they hit the cold air, Flynn calmed down slightly, sobering up with the cup of water that Julie had forced into her hand and the loss of pounding music and lights.
“Come on man, what’s going on with you and Molina?” Julie’s head snapped towards her name, locating a boy that she vaguely remembered. She was pretty sure that he was on the lacrosse team.
“That’s none of your business Kyle,” Luke replied. Kyle, yes, that was his name.
“Hey they are talking about you,” Flynn said, slurring her words.
“Shush,” Julie placed her finger on her mouth.
“Oh, okay,” Flynn whispered shouted. “We are eavesdropping, I like it.” Julie shook her head and turned back towards the conversation.
“I’m just saying, man. You guys are like always all over each other and you are always writing songs. How many songwriting sessions can you guys have? I know you are hitting that Patterson. There is no way that you aren’t.”
“Dude shut up,” Luke snapped back.
“I’m just saying, if we all have to constantly watch the two of you make googly eyes at each other, on, and off, stage, then you can at least tell us what’s going on.”
“Fine, you want to know what is going on?” Luke raised his voice. His back was towards Julie, but she could picture his face and she didn’t think that it was good. Her pulse started to race. She didn’t like this conversation and where it was going. “She is my bandmate and friend dude, it’s not like that. Okay!”
“So you guys are just strictly friends?” Kyle challenge.
“Sure Kyle, just strictly friends. We aren’t like that okay and will never be so can you please fuck off!”
Julie’s heart dropped. She didn’t want to hear the rest of the conversation. She ripped off Luke’s flannel and pressed it against Flynn.
“Honey, I’m so sorry,” Flynn told her, Luke’s outburst sobering her up.
“I need to get out of here!” She told Flynn and didn’t give her the option to try and stop her. She ran back into the house, dodging people left and right, and definitely pissing off a few drunk people.
She almost made it to the door before she collided with what felt like a brick wall.
“Oh fuck!” She let out a frustrated cry. “I’m sorry, but I really need to get out of here.”
“Julie, is everything okay?” The brick wall asked her. She looked up and realized that she had run into Nick Danforth-Evans, also known as the third guitar player, after Bobby and Luke, in their music class, and Carrie’s ex-boyfriend. “Shit, you are crying, what’s wrong?”
Luke wasn’t really feeling the party after Kyle’s interrogation about him and Julie. Kyle had constantly been on Luke all summer at every party about Julie and him and he had finally snapped in front of a bunch of the guys from their junior year gym class, including Reggie and Alex.
Even though Alex and Reggie were very gone, they still had the mental capacity to tell Kyle to fuck off and followed Luke as he headed towards the house. They had been there for a few hours, and he had planned to collect Julie and head out. Julie thought about spending the night but that meant that she would probably get stuck with clean-up duty and she was not about that. Flynn would stay though, spending the night with Carrie.
Speaking of Flynn, and Carrie, Luke ran right into her as he walked into the house.
“Here you go Romeo,” Flynn shoved the flannel that he had given Julie early into his chest. “You’re a fucking idiot.”
Luke was confused, and a little upset. Why did Flynn have his flannel and why didn’t Julie have it anymore? Ignoring her second comment and deciding that Flynn was as gone as his other friends, he took off deeper into the house, a little worried that Julie wasn’t with her.
He recognized her hair on the other side of the living room and perked up a little bit. She probably just got overheated and handed it to Flynn, maybe to get her some water or something.
He pushed through the crowd, a few giving him weird looks that he ignored.
Why was everyone being so weird?
And then he spotted Julie, wrapped up in Nick Danforth-Evan’s arms.
I never saw it coming, wouldn't have suspected it
I underestimated just who I was dealing with
Julie and Nick didn’t get together immediately that night, but by the time school was back in session, the two were together.
Everyone was shocked.
Luke was pissed.
He thought that they had something. He didn’t know for sure that Julie liked him, but he thought there was definitely a vibe that they had been flirting around all summer.
It wasn’t that Julie owed him a relationship or anything. He got that.
But he was just so confused.
The guys were just as confused as Luke was. The only one who wasn’t that thrown off was Flynn, who was there when Julie had overheard the conversation, but she had promised her friend not to tell anyone that she had overheard. The whole thing was embarrassing enough.
She had to know the pain was beating on me like a drum
She underestimated just who she was stealing from
Luke spent the first couple of weeks at school being moody and sorry for himself. So much that Reggie and Alex finally had an intervention with him. They told him that he was Luke Patterson, master guitarist, and songwriter. He was that dude and needed to get over himself,
They were trying to cheer him up and put a pep back into his step.
Luke in his idiot brain took it that he should stick it to Nick.
It went as well as one would think.
She's not a saint and she's not what you think
She's an actress, whoa
She's better known for the things that she does
On the mattress, whoa
Luke’s mopiness turned into him bitching about Nick for a couple of weeks to Alex, Reggie, and occasionally Flynn. Never to Julie though, who he had really only been seeing at band practice and class since Carrie’s party.
“I just don’t get why everyone thinks Nick is so great,” Luke whined one afternoon that they didn’t have band practice. They were hanging out in the Molina’s studio, although Julie wasn’t there. They had asked her if she wanted to hang out, but she declined to spend time with her boyfriend, which definitely got to Luke.
“Maybe because he is?” Alex challenged, already over this conversation.
“Yeah I like Nick,” Reggie added.
“He’s a lacrosse dude, they are just inherently awful,” Luke pointed out.
“I will say most are, but Nick doesn’t seem to fit into the stereotype. One could say the same thing about you and the rocker douchey stereotype,” Alex replied.
“Maybe that one is true if you keep this shit up,” Reggie said
“But isn’t the fact that he decided to hang out with those people still make him not a great person. Just because he doesn’t act like that, he still chooses to associate with them. Like Kyle. How can he be so great if he is friends with guys like Kyle!” Luke ranted.
“You know what, I’ll give you that one,” Alex shrugged. “But I feel like he has to because they are his teammates. Still not great, but there are definitely people I had to be civil with for the greater good.”
“And then didn’t he have a bit of a hoe phase after he and Carrie broke up-“ Luke wasn’t even able to finish his sentence before he was getting hit by pillows.
“I know you are mad that he swept Julie off of her feet but nothing will justify the slut shaming. I will kick your ass dude,” Alex reprimanded him.
“Yeah dude, not cool,” Reggie frowned.
Soon she's gonna find stealing other people's toys
On the playground won't make you many friends
“Why can’t you just try,” Julie sighed, throwing out her hands in frustration.
“Look Julie, just because he is your boyfriend doesn’t mean that I need to be friends with him. I have friends, I don’t want any more,” Luke shot back, crossing his arms. The two were in between classes, standing at Luke’s locker.
“Look, I’m not saying that you guys have to be besties but it would be nice if you guys could get along enough to hang out so I wouldn’t have to split my time so much.”
Luke thought about agreeing. It would be nice to see Julie more. He missed her.
“Julie, I don’t know.”
“Please!”
“Julie-“
“Please!”
“Julie-“
“Pretty please, for me!” And she hit him with that pout. God, he was so whipped.
“Fine, I guess.”
“Thank you!” She squealed, giving him a quick hug that definitely caught the attention of some people nearby.
“Hey, Julie!” Nick called from behind Luke.
Ugh.
Luke turned to see the blond smiling with his hand up in a wave. He came up and gave her a side hug, placing a kiss on her cheek.
“Hey Luke, what’s up man!”
Friends his ass.
She should keep in mind, she should keep in mind
There is nothing I do better than revenge, ha
“Seriously Luke,” Alex chastised him in the hallway the next week, watching Nick come out of the boy's locker room covered in glitter.
“I swear on my life Alex, it was meant for Kyle after he was making fun of Reggie yesterday. I guess they have the same gym bag,” Luke held his hands up in surrender.
But then he watched Nick go up to Julie, who backed away and refused to hug him, not wanting to be covered in glitter for the rest of her life.
Huh.
He didn’t mean it but he was very okay with the outcome.
She looks at life like it's a party and she's on the list
She looks at me like I'm a trend and she's so over it
I think her ever-present frown is a little troubling
“I don’t get why he is always so happy,” Luke grumbled a few days later. The three guys were at Alex’s locker, which due to them being alphabetic, was near Julie. The new couple was heading towards them but were still very much out of earshot.
“Oh my God, Luke,” Alex groaned.
“I thought you would be with me on this one Alex. How can someone be so happy in life when we are literally on a spinning rock heading for death?”
“You are so dramatic, and that is saying something coming from me,” Reggie playfully punched his friend.
“Hey, guys!” Julie greeted as the couple approached them. Luke immediately perked up.
“Hey guys!” Nick beamed, waving his hand.
Boo, go away!
“Hey guys!” Reggie responded back.
“I love your shirt,” Nick pointed at Luke’s chest. “I love that the 90s are back as the latest trend right now.”
Luke didn’t think he had ever been more offended in his life.
And she thinks I'm psycho 'cause I like to rhyme her name with things
“Nickkkkk is a dickkkkk,” Luke sang out, laying on the couch in the Molina's studio with a guitar in his lap. Julie and Nick were once again on a date, leaving the three guys by themselves.
“How original,” Alex deadpanned and then tossed a pillow at Luke.
But sophistication isn't what you wear or who you know
Or pushing people down to get you where you wanna go
Oh, they didn't teach you that in prep school so it's up to me
But no amount of vintage dresses gives you dignity
(Think about what you did)
“The hats are so stupid,” Luke groaned, a drink in his hand at the latest Los Feliz High School party. Julie and Nick had just arrived, being greeted by a ton of people as they walked through the door. The three guys stayed back though, watching everyone gather.
“I want to agree with you but you’ll be annoying about it,” Alex replied.
“Do you think he thinks it makes him look so cool and sophisticated? Because to me, he just looks like a dude in a fedora.”
“Just have another drink,” Reggie shook his head at his friend and handed him another cup, which Luke gladly took.
She's not a saint and she's not what you think
She's an actress, whoa
She's better known for the things that she does
On the mattress, whoa
Soon she's gonna find stealing other people's toys
On the playground won't make you many friends
She should keep in mind, she should keep in mind
There is nothing I do better than revenge, ha
Luke sat and drank, watching Julie and Nick team up in beer pong. Really, it was Julie doing all of the work where Nick’s skills were almost as pitiful as Flynn’s, which was saying a lot. At least Flynn could run her mouth, Nick just kept apologizing.
Julie was able to beat their opponents all by herself though, although their challengers were pretty far gone. Either way, Nick pretended like it was their victory, not hers.
Ugh, so annoying.
“We want to play next,” Carrie yelled over the music, dragging her brother, Bobby, along with her.
Luke could see Julie cringe, knowing that the Wilson siblings were probably the best out of everyone here.
“Sounds like fun,” Nick cheered, oblivious to the fact that he was awful, and they were about to get their asses kicked.
“I think we should have a little wager going though,” Carrie smirked, eyeing Julie. “Winner gets the closing spot at the winter recital.”
Oh fuck.
Everyone around them grew silent. The winter recital was huge. Agents, managers, and producers showed up to the event, scouting the latest talent. And everyone knew that the closer was the most covenant spot of the whole event. Mrs. Harrison told both Julie and the Phantoms and Dirty Candies that they were deciding between the two of them and they knew it was going to be a long and grueling process to try and secure it.
Look, they were all cool now, but that didn’t mean the rivalry necessarily ended. Secretly they all liked it. It made them all push each other and stay on top of their game.
Luke could see that Julie was panicking. She kept looking between Nick and Carrie, trying to decide what she should do.
He almost felt bad for Nick when Julie pulled him aside and started whispering to him. Nick looked a little sad but eventually nodded his head and tried to give her his best reassuring smile.
“Luke, get over here!” Julie called out, causing everyone to turn their heads toward him.
Oh.
He didn’t need to be told twice. He took a few huge steps until he was right next to her at the table where he belonged. Julie and he were the OG partners, the only ones that could rival Carrie and Bobby.
“Don’t fuck this up,” she told him. “I just had to replace my boyfriend as my partner. You know that I want that spot, and you do too. So, let’s prove it.”
And he wasn’t going to let her down.
It was intense. Cup after cup was hit on both sides. Islands were called and made, bounces were swatted all over the place, and trick shots went flying every which way. When Luke made the last cup, Julie screamed. And when Carrie and Bobby missed the rebuttal, she all but jumped in Luke’s arms, giving him the biggest hug.
“Oh my God yes! We are going to be the closers at the winter recital!”
Luke squeezed her back, happy about their placement for the band, but also secretly glad that he was getting a huge hug from Julie.
He could see Nick’s face over Julie’s shoulder, and he expected him to be angry, frustrated, or sad.
Instead, he just looked disappointed.
And Luke felt guilty.
I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at, honey
You might have him, but haven't you heard?
I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at, honey
You might have him, but I always get the last word
Whoa, whoa-ah-oh
Julie was avoiding him and he was frustrated. Even when she and Nick started dating, she still interacted with him while they were performing. They at least made some eye contact.
He even motioned his head towards her during his verse and she still dodged him, heading towards Reggie instead.
What the fuck.
They were putting on a garage concert for their friends and schoolmates. They wanted to test some new songs out, including Edge of Great, which they were performing for the first time.
She even went into the audience and interacted with Flynn and Carrie. Even walked toward Nick and gave him a wink. Okay, so she was interacting with others, just not him, and he didn’t know why.
He swears that he had been on his best behavior. After the whole beer pong incident, he had been actively trying to be nice to Nick. He even complimented his hat and tried to sound as sincere as possible goddammit.
When she went onto the piano for the bridge, he knew that he needed to do something. Making a split decision, he started playing a riff on the guitar, like an echo to Julie’s voice.
It worked, and Julie finally looked at him. Smiling at him as they did their impromptu duet.
Satisfied with himself, he headed back towards his microphone for the last rendition of the chorus, earning looks for Reggie and Alex that he was sure going to get an earful from later.
But he wasn’t done yet. For the outro, they all stopped playing and Julie headed toward the piano to finish the song. Luke was supposed to sing with her from his microphone, but he went against that, joining her on the bench and singing into her mic like they always did. It wasn’t a performance if they didn’t share a microphone at least once.
And oh, jeez their faces were so close.
The applause from their peers quickly got them out of their trance. Julie snapped away from him immediately, looking out towards the audience.
Luke looked too after a few seconds, and he knew they both saw the same thing.
Nick was looking at the two of them.
With a sad look on his face.
She's not a saint and she's not what you think
She's an actress, whoa (She deserved it)
She's better known for the things that she does
On the mattress, whoa
Soon she's gonna find stealing other people's toys
On the playground won't make you many friends
She should keep in mind, she should keep in mind
There is nothing I do better than revenge, ha
Luke decided to cool it with his petty shit that night. Despite popular belief, he could have empathy. He knew that if he was dating Julie and some other dude was singing with her like that, hurting his pride in a stupid party game like that, he would be pretty upset.
He was surprised that Nick hadn’t kicked his ass yet.
Maybe he was an okay guy.
Do you still feel like you know what you're doing?
'Cause I don't think you do, oh (No, no, no, no)
Do you still feel like you know what you're doing? (No)
I don't think you do, I don't think you do
Let's hear the applause (Come on, come on)
Come on, show me how much better you are
(So much better, yeah?)
See you deserve some applause
'Cause you're so much better
She took him faster than you could say "Sabotage"
“Hey Julie!” Luke called out the next day. It was a little bit before band practice and the other two hadn’t arrived yet. He had been filling his time with some solo basketball in the Molina driveway.
“Hey,” she grumbled out, heading right towards the studio.
Luke immediately dropped the basketball, letting it dribble out slowly towards the grass. “Oh shit, what’s wrong?”
“Nick and I just broke up,” she mumbled, avoiding looking at him.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he managed to get out.
“You don’t have to pretend like you aren’t happy Luke. I know that you didn’t like him,” she told him, irritated.
“I mean yeah, but I guess he wasn’t a bad guy. I just thought that you could have done better. Someone that you had more in common with,” Luke explained, cringing at the words coming out of his mouth.
“Sure Luke, whatever you say.”
“I’m sorry Jules, I guess I just didn’t get why you were with him,” he admitted.
“Because you never asked me!” She snapped.
Luke’s ears started ringing.
What?
What?
WHAT?
“I had like the biggest crush on you, and everyone knew it. Everyone thought that you were going to ask me all summer and you never did. I was even thinking about asking you myself because you know, it’s the twenty-first century and all. But then you screamed to the world at that party that you would never date me, and I would always be a friend and a bandmate to you. So, I thought that I could move on with Nick and it was going well. But he could see right through it. Broke up with me because he could clearly see that I wasn’t over you. So, if you could kindly fuck off while I go cry and feel sorry for myself, that would be much appreciated!” She yelled at him and then ran off into the studio, slamming the door behind her.
Fuck.
And he ran after her and he was going to tell her everything.
And he was going to do it now.
Because taking his time was what got them into this whole mess.
'Cause you're so much better
She took him faster than you could say "Sabotage"