Kylie Cantrall's Arc

Chapter 73 of 78

Kylie sat on the dock with her phone in both hands. Her three lines were live. Hearts filled the screen. But then she read the newest comments, and her stomach turned. "So cute that a fan got to meet her!" one said. "Best fan-girl moment ever," said another. She scrolled. Half the world thought Arianna was just a lucky fan. Her post had said she chose someone. It never said who Arianna was. Arianna read over her shoulder, still holding the cat. "They think I'm a stranger who won a contest," she said quietly. Her voice was flat, but Kylie heard the old fear under it. The fear that she would always be the fan and never the equal. "That's my fault," Kylie said. "I wrote three lines to sound clean. I left your name out." She stood. "I can fix it, but not with more words from me. If I explain you, I make you a thing I'm explaining." Just then Dr. Carter came down from the house. She had signed their marriage license as witness two days ago, and she'd stayed to help them pack the license somewhere safe. She carried her phone up like a flag. "You've both seen it," she said. "The comments." Kylie nodded. Dr. Carter didn't soften anything. She never did. "Then stop letting them guess. Show them she's the writer, not the fan." That landed. Kylie looked at Arianna. "Post from your own account," she said. "Not mine. Say it in your voice. The world sees a girl a celebrity picked. Let them see the girl who wrote the song." Arianna set the cat down. She thought for a moment. Then she typed on her own phone, slow and sure. She read it aloud. "I wrote her letters for a year. Then we wrote a song together, one line at a time. The last line is mine. The dog knew her coat before he knew her face." She looked up. "That's true. And no reporter gave it to me." "Send it," Kylie said. Arianna walked to the end of the plank where the signal held. Three bars. She pressed send. The post went up under her own name, on her own account. Kylie watched the two posts sit side by side. Hers said she chose someone. Arianna's said who Arianna was, in her own words. The comments shifted fast. "Wait, SHE co-wrote it?" "The last line is hers??" The word fan dropped away. New words rose. Songwriter. Partner. Wife. Dr. Carter read the screen and gave one nod. "Now they know," she said. Arianna leaned against Kylie. She wasn't shaking. "I've never posted anything in my life," she said. "You just did," Kylie said. But even as the story turned, her phone buzzed. Her mother again. The label had seen Arianna's account. And now they wanted the co-writer at the table too.