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A couple weeks after the incident with Carlos, Julie is back in the car heading towards the HPC, but this time it’s her mom in the driver’s seat. Carlos is at baseball camp for the next week and Flynn is in Louisiana with her family visiting her grandparents. Carrie had an early morning lifeguarding shift at the Club, and will be spending the afternoon rehearsing with Dirty Candy.
So, with her dad at a photo shoot for the day and her mom teaching classes all afternoon and evening, Julie had decided to take her mom up on her offer to drop her at the HPC on her way to the university. It’s better than spending the day at home on her own and maybe, just maybe, she’s hoping that a certain lifeguard will be on duty this afternoon.
“Okay Mija, here you are.” Rose says with a smile as she pulls to a stop outside the Club. “Have fun. Your dad will pick you up on his way home from his photo shoot later this afternoon. He’ll text you when he’s on his way. I’m teaching my late class tonight, so don’t wait on me for dinner. But don’t worry, I haven’t left you to the mercy of your dad’s cooking. There’s some pollo guisado and rice in the fridge. You guys can heat that up when you’re ready to eat.” Rose adds, a teasing twinkle in her eyes at the mention of her husband’s infamous lack of skill in the kitchen. Julie giggles and leans over to press a kiss to her mom’s cheek.
“Gracias Mamí. Glad to hear we won’t be stuck with spaghetti tonight. And thanks for the ride. Hope your classes go well today, see you later, love you!” She says before hopping out of the car. The Molinas had always been an openly affectionate family, but ever since Rose’s health scare last year, they’d started making a point to always say, I love you, when parting ways or saying goodbye.
“Yo también te amo, Mija.” Rose replies with a smile. Julie grins back before closing the door and watching her mom drive away, chuckling when she does her signature three honks on the horn as she pulls away.
Turning towards the Club, Julie fishes her membership card out of her tote bag, hikes her bag back up on her shoulder, then heads towards the front entrance. When she walks in she is greeted by a blast of frigid air from the AC and a much warmer welcoming smile from Reggie.
“Hi Julie!” He calls brightly, taking her membership card from her, scanning it, and clicking around on the computer screen before handing it back. “Just you today?” Julie nods, unable to resist smiling back at the cheerful bassist turned lifeguard.
“Yep, just me. Flynn and Sammy are out of town visiting their grandparents and Carlos is at baseball camp this week.” She responds.
“Oh yeah!” Reggie says with a grin. “Little dude was telling me about that last week, he was super excited that he’s finally old enough to actually sleep there this year!” Julie chuckles and nods. Ever since Reggie helped Carlos out of the pool a couple weeks ago he’d taken a shine to the older boy. He’d made a point to find him and talk to him every time they came to the Club and Reggie had been more than happy to indulge him, chatting with him about whatever was on his mind that day. It’s actually really sweet, Julie thinks.
“Yeah, he was pretty excited. So what brings you to the front desk today? This isn’t your usual post, where’s Willie?” Julie asks and she tucks her membership card back into her bag.
“Oh he’s helping Alex out at the smoothie station today!” Reggie says with a wide grin, a twinkle Julie doesn’t quite understand in his eyes. “Dante and Fuego called in sick and Alex was stuck on his own, so he volunteered to help him out. The rest of us are taking turns covering up here. Actually, you just missed Luke, he’ll be bummed to find out he missed you.” Reggie adds with a grin and a wink.
Julie splutters at that, her face flushing. In the past couple weeks she’s seen Luke around the Club numerous times and he never fails to give her either a wink, a charming grin, make a flirty comment, or some combination of the three. Inevitably, it turns Julie into a blushing stuttering mess and Reggie has witnessed a fair number of these exchanges. Reggie chuckles.
“I’ll be sure to tell him you said hi!” Reggie says with a cheeky grin. Julie huffs and turns to walk away, heading towards the pool deck, the sounds of Reggie’s laughter following behind her. Just as she walks through the door she hears Bobby walk into the reception area and admonish Reggie.
“Reg, c’mon man, we talked about this! You can’t flirt with every pretty person who walks in by making them think you’ll introduce them to Luke.” Says Bobby in a weary voice.
“I was not flirting Bobbs! And it was Julie, not just anyone!” Julie hears Reggie respond before the door closes behind her, preventing her from hearing Bobby’s response or figuring out why Reggie put that emphasis on her name. Shaking her head in bemusement she turns towards the pool, only to run smack into someone.
“Oof!” She grunts, stumbling back, almost ending up on her behind, but for the large, warm, calloused hands that grab her by her upper arms and haul her back upright. Julie’s eyes widen when she finds herself face to face, well, more like face to chest, with none other than Luke himself.
“Shoot, I’m so sorry! Oh hey! Julie! I’m sorry, that was totally my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going, are you okay?”
Julie blinks, unable to formulate a sentence, all of her focus taken up by the feel of Luke’s hands on her bare upper arms. It’s like all her senses narrow down to those two spots, Luke’s callused, guitar playing hands steady and firm against her skin, but still warm and gentle at the same time.
“-lie, Julie? Hello? Are you okay?”
Julie suddenly snaps out of it when she realizes she’s been standing there frozen, not saying a word while Luke has called her name multiple times. She takes a large step back, her arms immediately feeling cold when Luke’s hands fall away, and pastes on what she hopes is a convincing smile.
“Y-yeah. Yeah. Sorry. I’m good. Fine. Totally fine! My fault too, I should’ve been going where I was watching, I-I mean, watching where I was going! Yep, I’m totally fine! I’m just gonna go… I’m sure you have important lifeguard-y stuff to do! Bye!”
Julie rambles, before quickly sidestepping Luke and hurrying on towards the pool, cringing at the nonsensical mess of words that just came spewing out of her mouth.
~~~***~~~
Luke chuckles softly as he watches Julie rush off, a fond smile on his face. It blows his mind that she can get up on stage in front of the entire school and play the piano while belting her heart out like she owns the stage, yet the handful of times he’s managed to talk to her one on one, she has turned into a rambling, nervous wreck and all but run away from him.
He can’t help but find it kind of adorable though. He’s been harboring a not so secret crush on Julie that his boys have been teasing him about relentlessly since he saw her perform at the winter showcase at the end of first semester last school year. She had been the only sophomore to perform, since it was usually just juniors and seniors who performed at the winter showcase.
According to Bobby it had been some sort of last chance make-up performance for her to keep her spot in the music program. He had second hand information from his cousin Carrie, who was one of Julie’s best friends, and his Uncle Trevor, who was an old friend of Rose and Ray Molina. Apparently the school year prior, Julie had been going through some family stuff and had a really hard time fulfilling her requirements to keep her spot in the program. But that was all he would tell Luke.
Regardless of the reason for Julie’s performance at the showcase, it had blown Luke away. She had seemed kind of timid when she first walked out on stage and truthfully, Luke had been more focused on his upcoming performance with the band, but the moment she started playing and opened her mouth to sing, Julie had come to life, and boy oh boy, had Luke noticed her then.
He had been transfixed the entire performance, in awe of the powerhouse that was Julie Molina. After the showcase he had raved about her to his boys, describing her as a wrecking ball of talent with the power to knock people off their feet. They had teased him relentlessly, though they all agreed she was talented and Reggie even admitted that she had the voice of an angel.
That had been the beginnings of Luke’s crush on Julie and it had only continued to grow from the few times he’d had the chance to interact with her so far this summer. He thought her nervous, awkward rambling was adorable, and while it might not have been the first thing he noticed, about Julie, or anyone for that matter, she was actually very pretty. And Luke wasn’t completely oblivious, okay? He had definitely noticed Julie checking him out the other week when he got out of the pool after helping Carlos. So he was hopeful that his crush wasn’t completely one sided and that maybe, just maybe, it might turn into something more than a mutual crush by the end of the summer.
With that thought in his mind, he turns away, not wanting to get caught staring after Julie like some creepy weirdo, and heads inside the Club House. At the reception desk he finds Reggie and Bobby engaged in an animated conversation, but Reggie stops when he spots Luke.
“Hey Luke! You’re like two minutes too late, you just missed Julie!” He says with a grin wiggling his eyebrows and giving Luke a knowing look. Luke rolls his eyes fondly.
“Yeah, not so much Reg, I actually just ran into her outside. Literally.” Luke says with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Ooo did you sweep her off her feet?” Reggie teases. Bobby snorts.
“Knowing Luke he probably knocked her off her feet instead.” He says with a smirk. Luke scowls at the pair of them.
“Did not!” He protests. Bobby raises an eyebrow at him.
“I caught her before she fell over.” He mutters sheepishly. Reggie and Bobby both burst into laughter at that.
“Smooth man, smooth.” Bobby says with a smirk, patting Luke’s shoulder as he passes him. “Right, as fun as this has been, I’m gonna go see how Alex is fairing spending the day working in close proximity with his crush before I head back to first aid. I’ll see you doofuses later.”
“See ya later Bobbert!” Reggie calls. “I want a full Willex report later!” Bobby and Luke both groan at that.
“We are not calling them that Reg!” Bobby calls over his shoulder.
“I don’t hear you coming up with anything better!” Reggie calls back. Bobby shakes his head fondly and waves a hand as he walks away. Luke chuckles softly, amused at Reggie’s investment in his friends’ love lives.
And he’s definitely not thinking about the different ways it would be possible to combine his and Julie’s names. Nope. Definitely not thinking about that. Hmm, what would sound better, Lulie or Juke…? Luke blinks and shakes his head. No! He is not thinking about that right now! Trying to distract himself he turns back to Reggie.
“C’mon man, it’s almost time for your shift out there, which means it’s time for you to reapply your sunscreen. Can’t let you turn into a lobster out there. Not sure who would kill us first, Alex or Bobby.” He says with a chuckle. Reggie huffs and glares down at his arms which are now crossed over his chest.
“Stupid pale skin.” He mutters. Luke laughs and reaches under the counter to grab a can of spray sunscreen, tossing it at Reggie.
“Sorry man. Now go. I’ll cover the desk for you.” Reggie fumbles the can, but manages to grab ahold of it. Poking his tongue out at Luke over his shoulder, he heads outside. Luke chuckles and settles into the chair at the front desk, glancing around to make sure Caleb’s not around before leaning back and kicking his feet up on the desk. He’s got a little over an hour until his next shift out on the lifeguard stand and he intends on enjoying the AC while he can.
~~~***~~~
After her embarrassing encounter with Luke, Julie heads out onto the pool deck to find herself a sun lounger so she can hide behind her book and not have to interact with any more cute guitarists with dreamy smiles before her dad comes to pick her up. She finds herself one midway down the pool deck, just across from the lap lanes. She lays out her towel, pulls off her coverup, settles down to read the afternoon away in the warm LA sun.
Julie spends the next hour and change completely absorbed in her book. She almost doesn’t notice when Luke comes out to take his shift on the lifeguard stand, just across the pool from where she’s sitting… Oh who is she kidding?! She definitely noticed and she’s been sneaking peeks at him from behind her book every few sentences.
With a sigh at her own ridiculousness, Julie sets her book to one side and reaches into her tote bag for her water bottle. But then she frowns when she realizes it’s not there. She must have left it at home today. She lets out a huff of frustration. She really is quite thirsty. But then she remembers what Reggie said about Alex and Willie working the smoothie station today. A smoothie actually sounds really good right now. Definitely refreshing.
Decision made, Julie pulls on her coverup, grabs a few bills out of her wallet, stuffs them in her pocket, slips on her flip flops, then gets up to head towards the smoothie station. As she walks alongside the pool, hidden behind her sunglasses, she can’t help but steal another peak at Luke up on the lifeguard stand. She just can’t seem to help herself. He looks the picture of cool up there, relaxed back in the lifeguard chair, biceps on display, surveying the pool from behind his aviator sunglasses. Julie’s heart skips a beat just looking up at him.
Naturally, right at that moment, Luke looks in Julie's direction. Julie quickly turns her head away, embarrassed at being caught staring. Unfortunately, Julie looks back where she’s going moments too late, so she misses the dive toys lying on the ground next to the pool. She steps on top of one and her foot goes flying out from underneath her, sending her toppling backwards. As she falls back, Julie’s head smacks into the metal pole holding the flags up across the pool with a loud, CLANG! Julie crumples, slipping into the pool right next to her with a soft splash.
~~~***~~~
Luke knows he’s going to have a difficult shift when he takes the lifeguard stand and realizes his post is situated almost directly across the pool from where Julie is laying on a sun lounger reading her book. Not that looking at Julie is a hardship, quite the opposite in fact. But he knows it’s going to be difficult to stay focused on doing his job and not just stare at Julie the entire time. Not like in a creepy way or anything. It’s just, Julie is so pretty and her face is so expressive when she reads, Luke finds it enchanting and just a little distracting.
Somehow he manages to keep his focus mostly on his job for the first part of his shift though, only stealing the occasional glance at Julie. But about half ways through his shift, movement from Julie’s side of the pool catches his eye. From behind his sunglasses he tries to discreetly watch as Julie gets up and starts walking across the pool deck. When she’s almost to the end of the pool, he sees Julie sneak a glance up at him, then quickly look away when she realizes he is looking at her too. Luke chuckles softly to himself.
The next instant though, his smile falls. Time seems to stand still as Luke watches the events that happen next unfold in seemingly slow motion. Julie’s foot lands on some toy lying by the side of the pool and flies out from underneath her. She falls back and Luke can hear the CLANG clear from the other side of the pool where her head hits the flags pole. Julie crumples, falling into the pool beside her.
When Julie doesn’t resurface on her own Luke’s heart leaps into his throat and he immediately springs into action. He blows several shrill blasts on his lifeguard whistle, whips off his shirt and sunglasses, grabs his flotation device, and dives into the pool, stroking quickly to where he saw Julie fall in.
After what feels like an eternity, but in reality is only a few seconds, Luke reaches Julie’s side. He quickly but gently wraps the flotation device around her, just under her arms, rolling her over and supporting her head and neck on his shoulder, trying to keep her airways open and her face out of the water. He then kicks his legs to propel them both through the water and over to the side of the pool, which is thankfully very close.
Moments later Reggie is there on the side of the pool, helping pull Julie out of the pool. Luke is quick to haul himself out behind Julie, helping Reggie lay her out gently on the ground. From there he goes into lifeguard mode and begins assessing Julie’s condition. He quickly determines that her pulse is steady, but she isn’t breathing. He relays this information to Reggie then immediately begins CPR chest compressions.
“C’mon Julie…” He mutters softly.
Julie still isn’t responsive, so he leans towards her preparing himself to start rescue breaths when suddenly her eyes fly open. She gasps out a breath before she sits up and starts coughing up pool water. Luke quickly leans back and lets out a breath of relief before he gently begins rubbing Julie’s back while also helping support her.
“Easy Julie, easy. You’re okay.” He murmurs softly.
She coughs for a few moments longer before sagging into him.
“W-what happened…?” She croaks, looking wide-eyed between Luke and Reggie. The two boys exchange a concerned look.
“You slipped on something on the deck, hit your head, and fell in the pool.” Luke explains gently. “When you didn’t come up on your own I jumped in and pulled you out… Do you remember any of that?” Julie nods, the prior events slowly coming back to her.
“Oh… right. S-sorry… Umm, th-thank you. For saving me, I mean…” She stutters, flustered and still a little out of it. She reaches a hand up to feel the back of her head, letting out a soft hiss of pain when her fingers find a tender spot.
“Hey, hey, don’t do that.” Luke says softly, reaching up to take Julie’s hand, pulling it gently back down, away from her head. He squeezes her hand comfortingly, her smaller, softer, elegant piano playing hand somehow feeling right in his larger, rougher, guitar calloused one. He looks up into her face and smiles softly, getting lost in the warm brown pools of her eyes. And it might just be wishful hoping on his part, but Julie seems to relax some and get a little lost in his eyes too.
The moment is broken when Reggie clears his throat next to them. They startle apart and Luke drops Julie’s hand.
“Okay… Julie, I think we should take you over to first aid, let Bobby take a look at you. Especially your head. We’ll have him check for a concussion.” He says, looking between them, amusement dancing in his eyes. Luke quickly nods.
“Y-yeah! Yes! Reggie’s right, we should- we should definitely check you out- I-I mean get you checked out!” Luke stutters, shooting a glare at Reggie who snickers softly at his slip. He lets out a breath and turns back to Julie, giving her a sheepish smile, his cheeks rosy. Julie lets out a breath and gives a small nod.
“O-okay.” She says softly.
Luke nods, letting out a breath and forcing himself back into professional lifeguard mode.
“Alright. You feeling up to walking over there?” He asks. Julie gives another small nod.
“I-I think so.” She replies. Luke nods again.
“Good. Okay, let’s get you up, just take it nice and easy, Reggie and I have got you.” He says gently before he and Reggie carefully help Julie to her feet. Once Julie is upright, she wobbles a bit and Luke quickly wraps and arm around her.
“Woah, careful, you’re okay Julie, I’ve got you, just lean on me, okay?” Luke murmurs softly. Julie nods, leaning gratefully into him.
“Alright, I think Luke’s got you, you two head on over to first aid, I’ll stay here until someone can come cover our posts.” Reggie says with a friendly smile, though Luke can see the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He shoots Reggie the stink eye, they’re definitely gonna talk about that later, but for right now he focuses on getting Julie safely over to first aid so Bobby can make sure she’s really okay.
~~~***~~~
Julie can’t even believe what’s happening right now. One second she’s blacking out after hitting her head, then next, she’s waking up to none other than Luke Patterson hovering over her. And once she takes a moment to get her bearings and remember what happened, she realizes that Luke was probably moments away from giving her mouth to mouth. As ridiculous as it seems, she can’t decide whether she’s disappointed or not that she came to when she did.
She doesn’t have time to think about it too hard though, because Luke and Reggie go into lifeguard mode and start checking on her and talking about getting her to first aid. Though there is a brief moment where Luke is holding her hand and gazing into her eyes where Julie swears she feels a spark of something. But as quickly as it starts, it ends and soon she is leaning into Luke’s side as he guides her towards the first aid hut.
When they get there Luke pushes open the door and leads her inside before he immediately starts calling out for Bobby.
“Bobby! Bobby, where are you man?!” He calls urgently. Bobby rounds the corner.
“Dude I’m right here, no need to shout. What’s going on? I heard your whistle.”
Luke guides Julie forward and carefully settles her on a chair before turning to Bobby.
“I-It’s Julie. She hit her head a-and fell in the pool. I-I had to dive in and pull her out, s-she wasn’t breathing for a second, b-but she is now…” Luke rambles. Bobby rolls his eyes.
“Yes I can see that dude, considering she walked in here.” He snarks. Julie huffs and clears her throat.
“Excuse me, she is sitting right here.” She says giving them both a pointed look. Both boys turn and give her a sheepish look. Bobby clears his throat and steps forward.
“Right. Sorry Julie.” He says, moving towards her. “If you don’t mind, I’m just going to have a quick look at your head and test you for a concussion if you’re good with that?”
Julie nods.
“Okay. Other than your head, does anything else feel out of the ordinary?” Bobby asks as he settles into the seat across from her. Luke hovers worriedly nearby. Julie shakes her head, wincing a little.
“N-no, I think I’m okay otherwise.” She says softly.
Bobby nods and gets to it with the same quiet and calm efficiency he showed a couple weeks ago when he was treating Carlos. It puts Julie at ease. He gently examines the back of her head and rubs her through the basic concussion test.
“Okay.” He says once he’s done. “I think you’re going to be just fine Julie. You have a minor concussion at the worst. Just take it easy for the rest of the day. And if anything changes, headache, dizziness, nausea, go see a doctor, okay?” Julie nods and gives him a grateful smile.
“Got it, thanks Bobby.” She says before giving a slight shiver. She’s still soaking wet and the AC is blasting in here. Luke notices her shiver and darts across the room to grab a towel before coming back and draping it around Julie’s shoulders.
“Here.” He says softly, giving her upper arms a quick rub before he realizes what he’s doing and quickly pulls his hands away, taking a step back for good measure. “Sorry.” He says sheepishly, one hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. Julie pulls the towel tighter around herself and gives him a soft smile.
“It’s fine. Thank you, Luke.”
Bobby watches the whole exchange in amusement. He will definitely be telling the other guys about this later. None of them will be letting Luke live this whole day down, that’s for sure. He clears his throat.
“Right, Julie, I would recommend heading home and getting some rest. Do you have a ride, or someone who can come pick you up?” He asks. “Preferably someone who can stay with you, keep an eye on you, just in case?” Julie frowns.
“Uhh I was here by myself today and both my parents are at work… My mom’s teaching summer music classes at the university all afternoon and evening, so I don’t want to bother her, but I guess I could try my dad, he might be able to get out of his photo shoot early to come and get me…?” She says hesitantly. Bobby nods.
“Look, I get not wanting to bother him at work, but I do think it would be best if he could come get you.” He says gently. Julie blows out a breath and nods.
“Okay. I’ll give him a call… Shoot, I left my phone in my bag with the rest of my stuff.”
“I’ll go get it for you!” Luke says eagerly, stepping forward. “And I’ll grab the rest of your stuff for you too, I saw where you were sitting earlier, I’ll be right back!” He finishes before turning on his heel and rushing off.
Julie stares after him open mouthed. She didn’t even have a chance to respond before he rushed off. Bobby chuckles softly. She turns to look at him.
“What’s so funny?” She questions narrowing her eyes. Bobby just gives her a small amused smile.
“Oh that’s just Luke for you.” Is all he says.
A few moments later Luke comes bustling back in, Julie’s bag in hand.
“Here.” He says with a bashful smile, holding it out to her. Julie accepts the bag and opens her mouth to thank him, but before she can a towel comes flying from across the room and lands on his head, covering his face. Julie can’t help but giggle. Luke yanks the towel off his head and shoots a glare at Bobby, who is just standing there smirking, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
“You’re dripping all over my floor dude, it’s a safety hazard. Dry yourself off.” He orders. Luke huffs, but does as he’s told.
“Thank you Luke.” Julie says with a smile as she digs into her bag for her phone. Luke pauses what he’s doing to shoot her that perfect, charming smile. Julie feels her stomach do a flip. Definitely the good kind though, not concussion induced nausea.
Trying to distract herself, she pulls out her phone and calls her dad. Luckily, he is apparently on a break and picks up her call after only a couple rings. She quickly explains to him what happened and after reassuring him that she really is okay, asks him how soon he can come pick her up. There are some muffled voices on the other line before her dad comes back on the line and tells her that his assistant can wrap up the shoot and that he is on his way. She thanks him, then hangs up.
“Okay, my dad is on his way. He should be here in a little less than an hour, hopefully. LA traffic and all that, you guys know how it is.” She tells Luke and Bobby. “I think I’m gonna go wait in the lobby for him. Thank you, both of you, for everything.” Bobby sends her a small smile.
“No problem, just doing our jobs. Plus I’m pretty sure my cousin would actually kill me if I let anything happen to one of her best friends.” Julie chuckles and turns towards the door. Luke clears his throat and steps forward, the towel now hanging around his neck.
“I, uh, I-I can come with you, if you want? Keep you company and keep an eye on you until your dad gets here. Just in case…?” He offers, his voice trailing off uncertainly towards the end. Julie smiles softly up at him, tucking a damp curl behind her ear.
“Th-that would be nice actually, i-if you don’t mind and don’t have anything else you need to do…” She says bashfully. Luke beams at her.
“Totally! I mean, what kind of lifeguard would I be if I left an injured patron unattended?” He says with a wink that makes Julie’s stomach do that funny flippy thing again.
Bobby rolls his eyes at the sheer obliviousness of the idiots standing before him. He knows Luke has feelings for Julie and if his cousin is to be believed, those feelings are mutual. Yet neither of them will admit it or make a move.
“Alright you two, get out of my space.” He announces, making a shooing motion with his hands. “I need to mop up all this water up before anyone else slips in it and they get a concussion too.” Luke pokes his tongue out at Bobby.
“Alright man, we’re leaving.” He says, ushering Julie towards the door, tossing his towel from earlier back at Bobby. Julie slips her own towel off her shoulders and sets it on a table as Luke ushers her out, shooting Bobby a smile.
~~~***~~~
Together Julie and Luke head back to the main Club House and out into the front lobby where they find some chairs and take a seat. They sit in a slightly awkward silence for a couple minutes. Then Julie realizes she’s cold again, since she’s once again sitting there in wet clothes in a room with blasting AC. So she reaches into her tote bag and pulls out her own towel to wrap around herself. As she pulls it out though, her songwriting notebook tumbles out of her bag and slides across the floor.
“Shoot.” She mutters, quickly pulling her towel around her shoulders and reaching for her notebook, but Luke beats her to it.
“Hey, what’s this?” He asks, picking it up. Julie quickly snatches it from his hand.
“Uh, nothing! That’s off limits!” She says, quickly stuffing it back into her bag. Luke holds up his hands.
“Sorry. Sorry.” He says sheepishly. “Alex is always telling me I have no sense of boundaries. I didn’t mean to pry if it’s like, your diary or something.” Julie lets out a calming breath then gives him a small smile.
“It’s fine, sorry for snapping. It’s not my diary, but it is just as, if not more personal…” She pauses a moment before continuing. “It’s my song book.” She admits softly. “Whenever I have a thought I need to get out of my head I write it in there and sometimes it turns into lyrics…” She trails off, not mentioning how few of them have turned into actual songs in the past year or so.
Luke however, is not at all deterred. His face absolutely lights up when he hears that she writes songs.
“Wait, you’re a song writer too?!” He asks excitedly. “Did you write that song you performed at the winter showcase last year?” Luke is practically vibrating in excitement in his seat, his grin wide and his eyes bright. Julie shakes her head, then pauses, trying to decide how much she wants to tell Luke right now.
“No… My mom actually wrote it for me when… when I was going through some stuff.” Is what she decides to go with. Luke grins at her some more.
“That’s so cool! Your mom is a really talented musician. And so are you! I mean, your piano playing? Your voice? Man, you’re like a human wrecking ball of talent!” He says, kicking his leg out in his excitement. “And you write music too?! You’re like the ultimate music package!” He says, his arms waving around to emphasize his point. Julie smiles bashfully, her cheeks warming.
“Yeah, my mom’s pretty amazing. And thanks… I think…?” She says with a small chuckle. Luke continues to grin at her.
“I’m being serious Julie, you’re amazingly talented. Your voice, it has the power to move people.” Luke says earnestly. Julie gives him a small smile.
“Thanks Luke. You’re an amazing musician too. I mean all of you are! Your band! You guys are really good!” She says, her smile growing despite her slightly clumsy cover up. Luke positively beams.
“Thanks! Hey, wanna see the newest song I’m working on?! I’m having a little trouble on the bridge and I’d love your input on it!” Luke says excitedly before dashing to the staff locker room to grab his own notebook before Julie even has a chance to answer. A moment later he returns and plops down in the chair right next to her, already flipping through his notebook.
“Don’t you have a whole band to help you write your songs…?” She says hesitantly. “Won’t they be offended that you asked me instead of them…?” Luke waves a hand.
“Nah, it’s cool, they won’t mind. They’ll honestly just be grateful if I can stop agonizing over this stupid bridge.” Luke says breezily, settling on the right page and holding his notebook out to Julie. After a moment longer of hesitation, Julie accepts the notebook and starts reading over what Luke has so far.
It doesn’t take long for Julie to get sucked in. Luke’s song is good. Really good. Julie isn’t overly surprised, she’s heard the band play, she knows how good their music is. But looking over Luke’s song, she feels a burst of inspiration and excitement about creating music. It’s exhilarating. Something she hasn’t felt since before her mom got sick. A feeling she’s been desperately chasing since her mom started to get better again.
The time flies by as she and Luke exchange ideas back and forth. She finds herself wishing she was in front of her keyboard, her preferred instrument, or even her mom’s old but beloved six string. Before she knows it, she and Luke have been sitting there in their own little musical world, heads bent together over Luke’s notebook for almost an hour.
The spell is broken when Ray rushes into the front lobby, immediately zeroing in on Julie and hurrying towards her.
“Julie!” He cries, the worry evident in his voice. “Are you alright Mija? I’m so sorry it took me so long to get here, traffic was even worse than I thought.” Julie and Luke jump apart, Julie looking up at her Dad.
“Papí! You’re here! I’m fine, really. And don’t worry about it. Luke was keeping me company. And keeping an eye on me. Medically, that is. He’s the lifeguard who saved me.” Julie rushes to explain. Ray turns to Luke with a warm smile and holds out a hand for a handshake.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Luke. And thank you so much for looking out for my little niña.” Luke returns the handshake, his cheeks rosy.
“No need to thank me, Mr. Molina. Just doing my job.” Luke says bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck once he lets go of Ray’s hand.
“Well, this is the second time recently that you’ve saved one of my kids, so it’s only right that I express my appreciation.” Ray says with a warm smile. “We’re lucky to have such diligent lifeguards working here and keeping our families safe. Now, I really should get Julie home, but next time I’m here, I’d love to meet and thank, Reggie, was it? The other lifeguard who helped Carlos? He talks about him all the time, I think he’s grown rather fond of him.” Luke grins.
“I’m sure Reggie would love that. And I think the feeling is mutual. Reg has grown quite fond of the little dude too.” He says.
“Wonderful!” Ray says with a smile before turning back to Julie, picking up her bag and wrapping an arm around her. “Alright Mija, let’s get you home so you can rest.” Julie nods.
“Okay. Thanks Papí.” She says before turning to shoot Luke a small smile.
“See you later, Luke. Thanks again for everything.”
“Anytime Julie. I’m glad you’re okay. Take it easy. And thanks for the help with this.” He replies holding up his notebook. Julie’s smile grows a little bigger.
“It was fun. And I really didn’t do all that much, you basically had it down, I just helped you tweak it. It’s a great song, Luke.” She says softly. Luke grins at her before giving her and Ray a wave and walking away, already humming the newly improved bridge to himself, excited to share it with his boys at band practice later.
Ray watches the exchange with interest. His family may lovingly tease him for his forgetfulness, but he’s not quite as oblivious as his kids seem to think he is. It would appear that Julie has a crush on this Luke fellow. And if he’s not mistaken, Luke has a crush on Julie too. Not only that, it sounds like Julie might finally be getting back into writing music! He can’t wait to tell Rose all about this later. Honestly, he’s not entirely sure which part his wife will be most excited about. Smiling to himself he gently guides Julie out to the car and drives her home. This is shaping up to be quite the exciting summer for the Molina family.