chapter 7

WHEN I GET TO THE studio, I head right in, and Morgan greets me from her usual post. "They're recording vocals, but you can go on in and hang out."

"Okay, thanks." I give her a friendly smile, and she returns it.

As I head down the hall, I can hear hushed voices.

"He needs to push a bit higher here," Naomi says, and Wes mumbles his agreement as I step through the doorway. "Dex, let's run that bridge again."

Pausing behind them, I look through the big window into the booth, and Dex is standing there alone, leaning into a mic, headphones over his head. He's wearing a baggy tee with a long-sleeve shirt underneath and tight white jeans with a chain hanging from one hip. His usual backward hat has been replaced by a black beanie, and he's wearing his sunglasses even though he's indoors .

Part of me finds it sexy, and the other part wants to roll my eyes.

"Yo, Nora."

I glance over my shoulder to find Michael sitting on the couch, a laptop propped open on his lap.

"Hey." I smile, and he reaches out to give me a fist bump, which is starting to feel weirdly normal around this group. "What are you working on?" I ask, and I'm pleasantly surprised by how casual I feel as I go to sit beside him. Of the four band members, he's probably the easiest to be around.

"Check this out." He offers me the headphones he was wearing, and I slip them over my ears.

A second later, our song, "Ghost," starts to play, and my mouth falls open. They've recorded the lyrics, and Dex's voice sounds rough and haunted over the strings.

"I locked away my heart, too scared to feel the pain, but now I'm haunted by the memories that remain. I let her slip away, too scared to face the truth. Now I'm haunted by her absence in this lonely fuckin' youth."

It hits my solo, and I listen closer, trying to detect any mistake I might've made, but the notes land true.

"Oh my god," I whisper, shifting the headphones to my neck. "That sounds amazing."

Michael's brown eyes crinkle in the corners when he smiles. "Right? Just wait. Here, listen to this."

I put the headphones back on, and he plays the song again, but this time with different notes layered over where my solo should be. It's not strings, but I like the sound of it, and when I quirk a brow, he pauses the music.

"I've been messing around with your solo for the last week, and the crew agrees we should try this and see how it sounds."

So, he's the reason I'm back here again. "Did you write this song?" I ask, and when he nods, I give him an impressed smile. "You're super talented. I had no idea." I realize a second later that my words came out wrong, but Michael just laughs.

"Yeah, we all do a bit of writing—except for Lucas, that fuck—but Dex and I wrote this almost exclusively ourselves. I wrote the strings part, but if you've got a better idea, I'm all ears."

"I... I've never written music before. I wouldn't know where to start."

He shakes his head. "You're a musician; it'd feel natural once you started."

"I guess I've never thought about it that way." I take the headphones from around my neck and hand them back. "I'm so used to playing what others have written, I've never considered writing something of my own."

The producers loop the bridge Dex is working on, and Michael and I go quiet as he sings the lyrics. He's got a unique sound with an impressive range, and he hits a high note that makes my eyebrows rise.

Beside me, Michael chuckles.

"That's the one," Naomi says. "We can wrap it."

A moment later, Dex walks out of the sound booth, and I try to school my expression into casual disinterest. He pauses for a fraction of a second when he sees me on the couch, then turns to Naomi and starts looking over her shoulder at the three computer screens she's currently working on .

His lack of greeting feels like a punch in the gut, and I have to remind myself that I'm no one to him. It's not like we're friends or something. One cheeky comment on my Tribe page does not a friendship make.

"All right, Nora, you ready to get in there?" Naomi asks, spinning around in her chair to face me. Beside her, Dex leans back against one of the desks and bites his lip ring. I have to look quickly away.

"Yeah. Do you have the music for me?"

"Oh, I do." Michael rustles around in the shoulder bag by his feet and pulls out a few sheets of handwritten notes. I've never played from handwritten music before, but the notes and staff are clearly inked, and I can read it without trouble. Shouldn't be a problem.

"All right. I'd like to run through it once to get the hang of it, if that's okay."

"Of course. We're ready when you are. Oh, and take these." She hands me a pair of headphones, which I loop over my neck.

I kneel to open my violin case, and I can feel Dex's eyes on me while I rosin my bow, but I don't bother to look at him as I step into the booth. Alone, it's quiet in here, and knowing everyone is watching from the other side of the glass makes me feel like I'm onstage. But that feeling is almost comforting to me, and my nerves start to melt away as I grab a stand and set up Michael's handwritten sheet music.

Naomi gives me an A through the headphones, and I tune up quickly.

"Okay, I'm ready."

"Great. Go ahead. "

I lift my bow to the strings, take a breath, and start to play.

The solo is similar to the original, though it's slightly more technical, and it feels more passionate somehow. My first playthrough is light, without much in way of flair. I play it through once more, making sure I'm comfortable, and then I give Naomi a nod.

"Okay, recording," she says through my headphones.

The music starts, and I close my eyes, listening closely to my previously recorded notes to know when to come in. Hitting my cue, I play through the new measures without a hitch.

"Let's run it again, and slide into that high E in the fifth bar a bit more," Naomi says through my headphones. "This isn't the ballet; it can sound dirty."

Nodding, I try to loosen up. I'm used to the formalities of the orchestra—Mr. Edrington would roast me alive if I slid into a note like that—but it's a totally different vibe here.

The music starts in my headphones again, and I count myself in. This time as I play, I look up from the sheet music, and Dex is staring directly at me. He's removed his sunglasses, so I can see his narrowed blue eyes and the slight furrow between his brows. Last time he stared at me like this, it made me mess up, but I won't do that again.

So I stare back, matching his intensity as the volume crescendos into that dirty high E Naomi wanted. I hit it and draw it out with a fast vibrato that decrescendos into weighty silence amidst a puff of rosin smoke.

On the other side of the glass, Naomi stands up and smiles. "You killed it," she says. "I think we have what we need. "

When I step out of the booth and into the studio, Dex holds out a hand for a fist bump, and I humor him, considering he's done acting like he's ignoring me.

"Impressive," he says, and even though he says it in that lazy tone of voice I've come to know from him, it still sets my insides ablaze.

"Thanks." I shift my gaze to Michael. "I really like the changes. I think it has a lot more... passion." With Dex still lingering right over my shoulder, my cheeks heat up when I say the word, and I distract myself with putting my violin away.

There's a commotion from out in the hallway, and Dex sighs.

"About fucking time," he grumbles right before Lucas and Sebastian walk into the room.

"Nora!" Sebastian's eyes light up, and he surprises me when he sweeps me into a hug and lifts my feet off the ground. It forces a giggle out of me while my boots kick in the air.

Over Sebastian's shoulder, Dex's eyes narrow, and he worries at his lip ring.

Sebastian sets me down. He steps back, a concerned look coming over his face. "Did I miss it?"

"Yeah, that's what happens when you're an hour late, fucker," Dex says.

"Like you're one to fucking talk," Lucas says. He's lounging on the arm of the couch, and when the collar of his hoodie pulls down, it reveals a massive purple hickey on the side of his neck. He notices me staring and winks, and I avert my gaze.

"Listen to this," Naomi says. She hits a key on the keyboard, sending the audio into the speakers overhead .

They've already layered my new solo into the song, and as I listen to it played back, I start to smile.

"That sounds sick !" Sebastian says. "Damn, Nora!"

The guys give me a mix of looks: a beaming smile from Sebastian, a proud head nod from Michael, a shrug from Lucas, and nothing from Dex. He doesn't even look at me, just stares straight ahead at the screen where the song is looping. For some reason, that irks me.

"I think we've got what we need," Wes says, leaning back in his chair and tapping a pen against his chin.

"Yeah, we should have this mastered by end of day. The label wants to fast-track it to build hype for the summer tour. Well done, guys." Nora claps, and Sebastian joins in, ever exuberant.

"Let's go out to celebrate," he says. When he looks at me, his eyes go wide. "You've gotta come with us! It'll be fun."

"Oh, um . . ."

I never go out for drinks, and I'd say no, but Sebastian is giving me puppy-dog eyes, and when Dex glances at me over his shoulder and makes eye contact, it's like a spell comes over me, and the next thing out of my mouth is, "Yeah, sure."

"Fuck yeah! Michael, you in?"

"Let me call Jordan," he says, already reaching into his pocket for his phone.

"Bring her with us. And Lucas, get your girl too."

Lucas is texting, and he flips Sebastian off without looking up from the screen. Michael has a quick quiet conversation, then hangs up and smiles.

"Jordan's gonna come too, but we've gotta pick her up."

"And Alisha," Lucas says .

"Tell Alisha to meet us at Michael's place," Dex snaps, his voice carrying over everyone else's. "I'm not a fucking Uber."

"Dude, what's up with you today?" Lucas doesn't wait for a response before going back to texting. "You need to chill."

"And you all need to get out of this studio," Naomi says, putting a hand on her hip. "Go on, out." She waves the guys away, then gives me a sideways smile. "I'll have to come see you at the orchestra. You're mad talented."

"Thanks," I say quietly, grabbing my violin case as my cheeks heat up.

"Maybe we'll get to work together again." She shrugs. "It'd be sweet to get more strings on these tracks."

A bit of excitement blooms in my chest at the idea, though I know the chances of that happening are slim.

The guys head out of the studio, and I follow in their wake.

I'm about to go celebrate with rock stars .