distant hum, a notificat

e vibrated itself off the cheap particle

his?!" my friend Ch

ed the

mach d

was

leg

ap guitar, me with a hopeful smi

in our dorm room, "Maythan's Music Manifesto!" th

Ethan proclaimed, arm slung around me

cord deal," I' d gigg

dded, looking straight into the camera,

as losing its

Forever

ed in, thousan

he chem

were S

id you DO?! Br

r the ages, trag

ick, familiar ache spr

e ye

pped that promise, and my

s everywhere, a digital resurrec

a weird mix of nausea and a strange, d

wn nu

go to v

ang

ag

try, I picke

el

too well, a voice that had

ay

ha

other, the pop star polish e

me.

t is," I said

deo?" he asked, a strange note

aring out at the Austin skyli

, his voice dropping to a near whisp

od ran

hy

.. it brought everythin

ed sincerity. Or maybe, just maybe, a sliver of ge

an," I said, my voice

Talk to you. I' m... I' m outside

e wouldn't know I'd moved on

e there anym

inely surprised. "Whe

, to block him, to scream. Another, smaller, treacher

n, this is

I messed up. I know I messed up. I see that

d like unshed tears. The king of pop

wasn't l

answer, my fr

of groceries, a warm, easy smile on his fa

ch more grounded, infini

y lost lyric notebook in a Boston coffee shop a

his brow furrowing. "E

the line, "Maya? Ar

ving gaze a balm to the old woun

ar and strong, meeting Liam'

Actually, Ethan, I can'

on the o

stunned

d sound. "Mar

aughed. Th

f your business, Ethan

instant, his hand on my a

e, the trending hash

f it, his expression unrea

, a small, teasing smile playing on h

scent of his cologne, clean and reassuring, chasing

Eth

tin. He wante

d you told him you' re busy being ma

breaking. "Something like that.

my temple. "Some sparks a

sagreed. And the Golden Note Aw