(Aurora's POV)

You're never prepared for the loss of a parent. That void always remains. A missing piece in your heart.

I've been told it gets better with time. It never occurred to me that this pain would still be evident a year later. I feel like I can't do anything I used to love without thinking of mom's face.

Julie and I loved to sing. It was our thing. We were pretty damn good, too. I physically can't bring myself to do it. Something that made me whole, makes me want to crawl into fetal position and just cry for hours. It'll never be the same without mom.

Julie and I dropped out of the music program. The teacher has given us so many chances to take our spots back before they fill it but, we can't. Julie was going to try and perform for her class today. Lydia and I watch her walk down the hall to her locker with her head down. I know she's terrified.

"Is it any better? For either of you?" Lydia asked me.

"Not at all." I sighed and walked over to Julie. "Hey, love. Figure out what you're doing today?"

Her friend, Flynn, answered for her. "She said she'll know in the moment." She retorted.

"Julie..." I trailed.

"Hey, don't look at me. I don't see you making any effort." Julie remarked.

"Fair point." I sighed.

I was lucky to miss Carrie handing out flyers for some rally tonight. She gets on my nerves.

"Hey, text me okay? I want to know how it goes." I let out.

"Yeah yeah." Julie smiled and I walked away with Lydia.

"Are you ever gonna sing again?" Lydia asked me.

Good question. It really is. And it's one I don't know the answer too.

"Time will tell." I shrugged.

__

I guess the performance didn't go well. Julie froze and ran out. I was sitting with her at the table. She was silent.

"Are you okay?" I asked sincerely.

"Would you be?" She asked back.

I wouldn't be.

"No."

She let out a breath. "Will it ever get easier?"

"Who knows? I'm still working on it, too. What you did today was brave."

"It didn't feel very brave."

"It's more than I've done."

I miss it all. I miss music and singing with Julie. I miss belting my heart out and having fun.

Before we could continue, dad came down the stairs. "Oh good, you're home. I was about to go watch your brothers game. I've had photo shoots all day. Didn't even get a chance to eat.  But...I got a phone call today." He paused and sat down. This is never good.

"Yeah, I figured as much." Julie replied.

"Yeah, well it was my realtor friend." Dad said. Oh thank god.

"Oh, that." Julie let out a sigh of relief.

Dad shared a look with both of us. "Yeah, and she said if we're serious about selling the house, then she wants me to take some pictures for the website. Which means we have to do a lot of cleaning and get rid of some stuff."

I don't want to move but I don't want to stay. I've grown up here but, it's hard.

"Maybe you guys can....tackle moms studio."

There it was. That void. The emptiness.

Julie and I both shut down internally. On the outside we looked down at our hands. We haven't been in there since.

"You guys are the experts. You know, your brother and I wouldn't even know where to begin. It's okay, if you're not ready..." he trailed off.

No, I needed to be ready. As hard as it can be, I need to move on.

"No. It's alright." I spoke up and looked at Julie who nodded. "Maybe we can try and tackle it tonight." I continued.

"Yeah? Awesome, mija. Thank you. Oh, and don't forget the loft. You know, this old instruments that were there when we moved in? They need a new home." Dad said softly and stood up.

"Mom would like that." Julie let out. I nodded.

"Yeah, she would." He replied reassuringly and then looked at his watch. "Oh, god. I'm gonna be late."

He was on his way and Julie and I shared a look we both knew. This garage wasn't going to clean itself.

After some time passed and some homework was done, we got up and went to the garage. I wasn't sure what to expect.

We opened the doors and felt the air hit us. I flipped on a light and turned around. Her and I both walked around. I was thinking of all the memories.

Julie went straight to the piano. She was always better at it than I was. I could get out a tune but she could perform circles around me with it.

My eyes shifted to a piece of music on the bench. It was called "Wake Up". I sat down and looked at the piano and then my hands.

I couldn't do it.

"I'm so sorry, mom. That I haven't been in here. That we haven't." I muttered and looked up. I feel so horrible for neglecting this place. We used to spend all of our free time in here.

Julie climbed into the loft. I wandered around the room.

When Julie came down, she had a CD in her hand. It was some band called Sunset Curve.

I shrugged and she put it in the stereo. The music filled the air and I have to say, it was pretty good. Her and I were both vibing to it.

That was until our ears filled with faint screams. Soon, they weren't faint at all.

All of the sudden, there was a blink and then three teenage boys were on the floor of the garage. I had never seen anything like it.

Julie and I were both frightened and confused.

"Whoa! Whoa!" the one in front kept saying. He had brown hair that framed his forehead. "How did we get back here?"

Back here? This is our house.

Julie and I both started screaming. These intruders just poofed out of nowhere, literally.

They started screaming with us.

Julie took off out of the room. I stayed.

"What- How-" I kept stuttering. I couldn't form a sentence. "I'm just gonna..go." I finally got out and took off after Julie. She was talking to dad.

We ran inside. I followed Julie into her room. We both jumped when we heard a "Hey!" behind us.

It was just dad. Thank god.

"Just wanted to make sure you guys are okay." 

"You don't believe me, do you?" Julie sighed. Damn, she works fast.

"Honey, of course I do. Did you see it too, Rory?"

I just ferociously nodded.

"Mija, I see your mom all the time." He tried. No, this is different. Unless mom has taken on the form of 3 teenage boys, this is not like that.

"This isn't like that." I protested.

"I know. It's different for all of us."

"Dad, you're not listening to us. We saw something out there." Julie tried to convince. It wasn't working. He thinks we're crazy.

"Alright. Okay. Okay. I'm listening. Tell me what you saw. It's just the three of us here." Dad replied and sat down.

He sounds like our therapist. I made sure to make a mention of it. "You found just like Dr. Turner."

"Maybe seeing Dr. Turner again isn't such a bad idea."

I huffed and rolled my eyes. Julie was fed up too. "Dad! Can we just drop it please?"

"Alright. Dropped." He smiled and walked out.

Julie and I turned to each other and shared a look.

She looked to her wall and grabbed the cross.

"Really, Julie?" I deadpanned.

"It's all we have!" See defended.

We both walked back outside and into the garage. She held the cross as if it would vanish  them.

"Are you still here...whatever you are?" She called out. Nothing.

"I know I saw something. I'm not crazy." I muttered.

That's when a voice appeared behind us. "We're all a little crazy."

It was the same boy from before. Julie started screaming. I just stood there frozen. What is going on?

"Please stop screaming!" Another one begged.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my moms studio?" I demanded.

"Your moms studio? This is our studio! Trust me, the grand piano is new." One said and walked closer to me. Julie chased him with the cross.

"A-And..my couch!" He exclaimed and jumped onto it. He then looked to the wall and saw a guitar. "That is definitely not my six string." He looked around, dumbfounded, almost like he was just as confused as Julie and I.

He looked at my hard face, "Can you give me just one second? Just give me a second...thank you."

The three huddled while Julie and I stood there, eyes wide. This is not happening right now.

The one in the hat then stepped forward and literally yelled, "Why are you in our studio?"

"This is not your studio!" I yelled and tried to put my hand on his shoulder to direct him out but it went right through him, literally. This isn't real.

"Oh my god." I gasped and retracted my hand so quick.

"How did you do that?" Julie exclaimed.

"Clearly you're not understanding. Clearly they don't get it. Okay, look. We're ghosts, alright? We're just three ghosts, and we're really happy to be home. So thank you for the flowers, they really brighten up the room."

I looked at him like he was crazy. Am I dreaming? I'm dreaming.

"We're actually in a band called Sunset Curve." The boy from earlier spoke up.

"Tell your friends." The third one said.

"Last night was supposed to be a really big night for us. It was gonna change our lives."

"Okay, this is freaking me out." Julie said and pulled out her phone.

"What is that? What are you doing?" One asked.

"This is my phone. No! Stop talking to them. They aren't real. There's no such thing as cute ghosts." Julie rambled.

"Oh, you think we're cute?" One asked. I mean they are but that's not the point.

"Who are you calling?" The one in the hat asked.

"I'm googling Sunset Swerve." Julie replied.

"Sunset Curve!" They all yelled. Jesus.

Julie and I both saw the news headline and shared a look.

"Well, there is a Sunset Curve. You did die. But not last night. Twenty-five years ago?" I trailed off.

"What? No no no. That's impossible. After we floated out of the ambulance all we did was going to that weird dark room where Alex cried." One said.

Alex, I'm assuming tried to defend himself. He was the one in the hat. "I think we were all pretty upset."

"But that was just for like an hour. We just showed up here." The cuter one said.

"Look, this is what it says." I took the phone and held it out. "See? You died in 1995. When you were 17. It's now 2020."

"So this is the future?" Alex asked. "Wait, so it has been 25 years? I'm have been crying for 25 years? How is that possible?"

"Thought you were afraid to come out here!" Carlos said as he walked in. He walked right past the boys. "Talking to your ghost friend? Is he hideous?"

"He can see you." One joked at Alex.

"No. He can't." I snapped.

"What?" Carlos asked, confused and looked side to side. Shoot.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"A normal sister for starters. Stop being weird and come eat." He said and walked out.

When he was gone, Julie spoke up. "He couldn't see you."

"Yeah, that's usually how ghosts work." Alex retorted.

Julie huffed and walked out. I followed but turned around before I walked out.

"Look, it was a real tragedy what happened to you. I'm sorry. But this isn't your studio anymore. You have to leave." I demanded and turned around.

"But wait- we didn't get your name." The cute one said.

"Aurora. Call me Rory, please. I hate Aurora. The other girl was my sister, Julie." I replied.

"Cool. I-I'm Luke by the way. And this is-" He stuttered and point to the one in a leather jacket.

"Reggie. I'm Reggie. Hey!" He waved.

"And..." Luke trailed off.

"Alex. How's it going?"

"Ba-da." Luke let out and held his arms out like he was showing off a fancy car.

"Great to meet you. Please leave." I sarcastically smiled and walked out. I can't deal with this.

I met up with Julie and we went to the dinner table. We set up a plate for mom. It's tradition for us.

Dad put dinner out which was leftover spaghetti.

We scooped food and dad started talking.

"Carlos tells me you guys were out in the studio."

"Rory was talking to herself." I rolled my eyes and threw a noodle at him.

"Hello, hello!" We heard.

Shoot. Tia comes to visit a lot. She think we refuse to move on and tries to force us too. We quickly removed moms place setting and acted normal.

"Spaghetti, again?" She asked as she walked in.

"Yeah." Dad smiled.

"That's too bad. I brought uou my pasteles and arroz con pollo." She announced proudly. I love her, I really do but she can be overbearing sometimes.

"Mmm." I hummed.

"Thanks, Tia. It smells great." Julie let out.

"You can have it tomorrow. I can't let you have leftovers every night. My sister would kill me,
may she rest in peace. I see things here are going better?"

"Actually, Julie and Rory have been cleaning out mom's studio. Hopefully we can get the house on the market and get some offers soon." Dad said. We were trying to eat and she was rubbing our backs.

"Well, I like the sound of that. Moving from
here is only gonna help you move on." She let out.

I was suddenly distracted by three boys walking through (literally) our door.

They started walking over to Julie and I and she screamed. She covered it up somehow. I wasn't even paying attention. I was just sending evil eyes their way.

Luke bent down to my level, "Hey Rory, I really
like what you guys did with the place."

"You shouldn't be here." I said through gritted teeth.

Tia gasped. No no. "Oh I'm just here to help, mija."

Come on Rory. Think.

I would so kill Luke if he wasn't already dead.

I sent eyes to them. Alex muttered something and backed away.

"I mean, you should be at pilates! Thanks for bringing us food." Quick thinking. I sealed the deal with a loving hug to tia and a glare at the boys.

"We should've called first." Reggie whispered. They backed away. Tia made some ignorant comment about music and ignored it.

Dad and Julie were deep into a conversation but was quickly cut off by music blaring from the garage. Dad and Carlos heard it this time. I ran out the door without even thinking and Julie wasn't far behind.

I walked in to see them all playing instruments.

"Cut it out!" I yelled. The only one who listened was Reggie. The others slowly obeyed. "The entire neighborhood can hear you! I thought I told you to leave."

"Wait, people can hear us play?" Luke asked. Not the point.

"Yes! And so did our dad and brother!" Julie exclaimed.

"W-wait. So only you guys can see us but everyone can hear us? I mean, what kind of ghosts are we?" Alex asked.

"Who cares? People can hear us play!" Luke said and gave them all a fist bump.

"We might be dead but our music isn't." Reggie let out.

They beefed right up when our dad walked in. They better stay silent.

"Hey. Just making sure you're okay." He smiled.

"Oh yeah. I just had to turn off the CD player."  I replied.

Dad then turned to the instruments, "Is this the junk that was in the loft?"

"Junk?" Luke exclaimed. Here we go.

Dad walked around and inspected it. Julie was able to pull him out.

"What don't you understand!" I exclaimed to them. They all just looked at me and scratched the back of their heads. "Hang out at an old mansion. I hear Pasadena's nice." I huffed and walked out.

Julie was already inside. I was on my way in when Luke poofed in front of me. I jumped.

"Okay, you have to stop doing that." I let out a breath.

"I'm sorry." He said. He was being genuine.

"What do you want?" I asked a little softer but still kept my guard up.

"I know this is all completely insane but do you know how rad this is? Actual people can hear us play!"

"Cool! I'm tired and it been a long day so if you'll excuse me-" I said and walked past him but he stopped me.

"I'm sorry it's been long but three guys just found out that had a long 25 years and then they found out that the one thing they lived for in the first place, they can still do. That's pretty rad." He rambled. What am I supposed to say?

"You're right. It's just-" I started but he cut me off.

"Your long day. Yeah, I know." He said sincerely. "Look, i'm sorry we came into your life, but....what I just felt in there actually made me feel alive again. We all felt alive again. So you can kick us play it if you want, but we're not giving up music. We can play again! That's a gift no musician would ever turn down. You gotta know that! Clearly your mom is into music." He went on.

"Was." I corrected. "She passed away."

His eyes softened completely. He almost looked sad. "I am...so sorry."

"Yeah, we didn't know." Alex said from behind me.

"It's alright." I assured. "This is probably a really stupid question but um, have you seen her? From where ever you're from?"

I already regretted saying that.

"No, um. You and Julie are the first people we've seen." Alex replied.

"Yeah but she's not dead so that doesn't really answer her question." Reggie added. I let out a soft chuckle.

Snap out of it, Rory.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Alex said.

"Thanks." I replied after a moment. "I um, sorry I got mad. You guys are...kinda good."

"Kinda? You know that's like 25 years of rust just getting dusted off." Luke tried to defend.

We spent a moment talking before I excused myself. I told them they could stay in the garage. I think when I explain this to Julie she'd agree.

___

I went to sleep after that. In the morning, Julie and I wandered into the garage again. They weren't in there.

I had this itch. Her and I both did. We needed to sing. Something about those boys just triggered it.

Julie sat at the piano and started playing "Wake Up".

Her fingers started plucking the notes and she started the song out.

"Here's one thing I want you to know
You got someplace to go"

Her and I shared a look. I took the next lines.

"Life's a test, yes, but you go toe-to-toe
You don't give up, no, you grow"

I smiled. The first time I sang and it's something of moms. Julie smiled too. This felt good.

Her and I sang the next couple lines together.

"And you use your pain
'Cause it makes you "you"
Though I wish I could hold you through it
I know it's not the same
You got living to do
And I just want you to do it."

I took the next couple lines. This song really is beautiful.

"So get up, get out, relight that spark
You know the rest by heart"

Julie and I harmonized on the chorus. I forgot how beautiful our voices sounded together.

"Wake up, wake up if it's all you do
Look out, look inside of you
It's not what you lost
It's what you'll gain raising your