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“It’s almost time for class - have you joined?”
Julie leaned across her bed to tap at her computer. “No, give me a second.”
Flynn patiently waited while Julie logged into class - Mrs. Harrison had begun the last three classes with pointed lectures about entering class on time and making sure they didn’t miss any content. “Yeah, I’m in.”
“On mute?”
Julie scoffed, leaning back. “Of course - I’m not Luke, Flynn.”
Flynn grinned and flopped backwards on her bed. “Jules, what the hell happened to your bed?”
Julie glanced down - cables, clothes and books littered the surface of her bed, and she wasn’t entirely sure what she was leaning on. “Mami and I started cleaning my room over the weekend and we didn’t completely finish.”
“You’re going to sit on something important.”
“I’m like 87% sure I’m not.”
Flynn snorted. “That is not the reassuring statement that you think it is, Jules. Anyways, what were you saying before, about being in looooooooove?”
Julie leaned backwards, ignoring the cable digging into her spine - she thought it was the headphones currently plugged into the laptop.
“I realised on Saturday that I love Luke,” she said, twirling a piece of hair around her finger. “It was during movie night.”
Flynn made a noise of recognition - movie night involved everyone on a Zoom call together using a Wilson computer (they had the premium version of Zoom because even in a pandemic, Trevor needed to have his meetings) and watching something on Netflix together. It usually resulted in some hilarity between Reggie and Bobby, with Alex and Carrie alternating between mediators and instigators. That Saturday had involved Reggie slowly edging closer until his entire upper body was laid across the others, and Bobby accidentally upending their bowl of popcorn on his head.
“I miss being around people,” Julie said softly. Flynn hummed sympathetically - they were all having a difficult time with isolation. “Anyways, you know that bit at the end, when the kiss happened?”
“And we all made kissy noises at Willie and Alex?” Flynn asked. It was a fair question, given that the group took it in turns to make fun of their friends.
“Yeah,” Julie said softly. “Alex was swearing at you guys and Luke started laughing and… it hit me.”
“You’ve never been around him in person,” Flynn pointed out.
“No, I have. He came grocery shopping with us once.”
Flynn snorted. “Oh, be still my heart. Love over the cabbages.”
Julie smiled reluctantly. “I guess Reggie was right - the distinction between buying onions platonically or romantically is important.”
Flynn turned serious. “Jules, are you sure?”
“Yeah, I am. I just… don’t know how to tell him.”
Flynn shifted to sit up, as did Julie - they both had to get ready for class. “Why don’t you tell him what you told me a few days ago? About how music sounds better around him?”
“That’s not really an indicator,” Julie pointed out, waving a dismissive hand. “Everything is better with him.”
“We’ll figure it out. For now, we should get to class - there’s less than a minute left.”
Julie blew her best friend a kiss and shifted to grab her laptop. She pulled the earphones out from underneath her back, seeing that the class were waiting for the hour to tick over. Shoving earphones in, she grabbed her journal and got ready.
“Good morning, class.”
“Good morning, Mrs. Harrison.”
***
“So, for your assignment for this week,” Mrs. Harrison said, leaning back. Julie finished taking down her last note before looking up. “You’re going to pair up to channel emotions. I know this has been a difficult time for all of us, but the beauty of music is that we can make people feel things. In this case, I want you to channel a positive emotion and write a song about it. We want to inspire hope.”
Julie smiled and nodded - she liked how Mrs. Harrison was using their assignments to address their circumstances. She knew her music teacher was worried about the students, and that this was her way of checking in on them without making them feel like they were being babied.
“I’ve already paired you,” Mrs. Harrison continued, “and I don’t want to hear arguments about it. I’m posting the list in the chat.”
Julie scanned the list, grinning when she saw she’d been paired with Luke. While she would have been happy with anyone, getting to spend some extra time writing with Luke was always a positive, even if the class was already complaining that they were writing partners already. Mrs. Harrison called order back to the class, dismissing the complaints.
“I have paired you this way for a reason. You have two weeks to write your song before presenting - extensions will be granted on a case by case basis, but you have to have a valid reason.”
Julie shot Luke a quick text, asking if he wanted to meet up at the park to get some writing done that afternoon. His response made her smile.
Luke💜: I’ll bring some of my mom’s brownies
***
Luke was waiting underneath a tree when she parked her bike at the park. She took a moment to thread the chain through before making her way to where he lay.
“Heathen,” she said affectionately through her mask. Luke grinned up at her, ignoring the loose grass sticking to his entire body.
“Hey, you said you were bringing the blanket,” he pointed out, pulling his mask back down before standing. She entered the six feet zone and spread a blanket out for them to sit on.
“Okay so,” Luke said, flopping back down and passing her his journal. “I was thinking that we should write a love song.”
“A love song?” Julie asked, raising an eyebrow and accepting his journal. “Bit of a departure from tradition, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but what’s more hopeful than love?”
Julie smiled as she leaned against the tree. “That was very deep of you, Mr. Patterson. What else do you have for me?”
Luke pointed at his journal. “My mind is yours, fair maiden, so long as you never call me Mr. Patterson ever again - that title belongs to my dad.”
“Deal. Here, look at mine while I read here and we can see if there are any lines we can put together.”
Julie was halfway through deciphering his notes on a page decorated with doodled stars when Luke made a noise of interest. “I like this line, Jules. About being a mirror for someone.”
Julie smiled and twirled her pen through her fingers. “It’s how I think about Flynn - a mirror to my thoughts.”
Although it wasn’t just Flynn anymore. These boys, this group, they’d all turned into mirrors of a sort for her.
“Let’s use it,” Luke said, shifting so that he was sitting up again. Julie almost lost his next words in the distraction of seeing his toned stomach flash at her for a moment when he adjusted his shirt. “I like this too - music sounds better with you.”
Julie frowned. “I didn’t write that down. I’ve only said that to Flynn.”
Luke winked at her. “You might want to check your mic before class starts. Or don’t - we’ve all done this so far, so it’s probably someone else’s turn to forget.”
Julie’s mind flashed back to that morning when she lay back. “I leaned on my cable. I… I activated my microphone, didn’t I?”
Luke nodded, his eyes crinkling at the corners - he had to have the biggest grin on his face. “You did indeed. You pulled a me.”
She groaned and buried her face in her knees. “You heard everything.”
“I did,” he said, sounding like he was enjoying the moment. “It was somewhat affirming - now I know you aren’t above making the same dumb mistakes I do on a daily basis.”
She groaned again. “Don’t mind me. I’ll be here, in my ball of embarrassment forever.”
Luke laughed. A moment later, Julie felt something hit her knee - his pen.
“Jules, it’s okay,” he said softly when she peeked at him from behind her hair. “It’s no worse than how I asked you out, after all.”
Julie smiled reluctantly. “Okay, I guess you have a point.”
“And besides,” he said, gesturing for her to throw the pen back. “Makes it easier for me to tell you music sounds better with you, too.”
The pen slipped through her fingers. “Do you…”
His hand flew to the back of his neck. “I’m bad at saying how I feel without music.”
The sunshine dappling the ground around them seemed a little brighter. The wind smelled a little sweeter. Her smile felt a little bigger. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were in a pandemic, she was positive she would have kissed him by now.
“Luke?”
He met her gaze. “Yeah?”
She took a deep breath. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
***
They got an A on the assignment.