Arianna Smith's Arc

Chapter 12 of 23

The song had a verse and a chorus. It had no ending. Kylie played the last chord they'd written and let it fade. "We release in two days," she said. "Half a song won't cut it." Arianna nodded. She knew what that meant. If they put out something unfinished, both their names would sit on top of it. The whole crowd Kylie feared would see them fail together. They worked at the small wooden keyboard in the corner of the studio. Kylie tried a bridge. Arianna tried another. Every line felt fake. "It sounds like we're reaching," Arianna said. Kylie dropped her hands. "Because we are." She rubbed her eyes. "I've missed deadlines before. My label doesn't forget." For the first time since Arianna arrived, Kylie looked scared instead of guarded. Arianna's chest tightened. She had spent years writing to fill silence between herself and Kylie. Now the silence sat inside the song. She stood and walked to the counter. A small brass bell rested there, the one a fan had sent to shake a stuck writer loose. Beside it sat a plaque shaped like a music note. A fan had carved it. It read: A new song for Kylie, from Arianna. She stared at the words. She had been trying to force an ending onto the song. But the song wasn't about an ending. It was about not knowing what came next. "Kylie," she said. "We keep writing like we solved it. We didn't. We're two people who don't know what happens now." She picked up the pen. "So let's say that." Kylie turned on the bench. "Say we don't know?" "Say we're figuring it out. Out loud. In front of everyone." Arianna wrote a line. "No map for this, just your hand and mine." Her voice didn't shake. Kylie read it and pressed a key. The note hung in the air, soft and sure. They built the bridge from that. Two hours passed. Kylie sang the top line. Arianna sang under it. The song stopped pretending to be finished and became honest instead. When they hit the last word, they both went quiet. Kylie played it start to end. It held. Kylie recorded the final take on her phone and uploaded it before either of them could second-guess it. "It's out," she said. "Both names." She set the phone face-down and let out a slow breath. Arianna's relief lasted one minute. Then Kylie's phone lit up. Comments poured in. Most were kind. But near the top, one name kept surfacing in the replies, tagged over and over by strangers. The betrayer. The old best friend. The world had heard Arianna's name beside Kylie's, and someone from Kylie's past was answering back in public.