sparks; gracie abrams

chapter four- whatever you wanted

In the dim neon lit recording studio, Ember fidgeted nervously with the strap on her guitar case as she entered the room. Her eyes widened as she spotted Gracie, tuning her guitar near the mixing board. The younger girl cleared her throat nervously, not wanting to sneak up on her. Gracie looked up, a genuine smile spreading across her face, standing up to shake her hand. "Ember! I've been looking forward to this. I'm Gracie. So glad you're here." Ember smiled back and shook her hand, nerves evident. "Nice to officially meet you, thank you so much for the invite. Your music is a big source of inspiration for me." Gracie's eyes light up with enthusiasm. "Aw, that's really so sweet of you. I saw your set on Saturday, and there's just something really special in your sound. I'm genuinely excited to see what we can create together." Ember blushed at the compliment, nerves starting to ease as Gracie's genuine excitement became contagious. "That means so much to me, thank you." "Alright then, let's get started" Gracie said, motioning toward the couch next to the recording booth. "Do you have a specific muse or writing process? I know everyone is a little different." Ember sits where she gestured and rummages through her bag for her best notebooks. "Um- I'm not sure if I could pick one specific muse, I normally just get lyrics in my head that remind me of something and write them all down to see if they fit anywhere." She pulls one out where she had collected some of her better ideas, handing it to Gracie. "Honestly I'm pretty similar, the memos on my phone are so random sometimes." Gracie says as she takes the leather bound book, flipping through some of the pages. Stopping at one of the purple page markers, the older girl read the half-baked chorus that Ember had written. "Wow, this one is really good, did you have an idea for sound?" "Yeah, that one is one of my more formed ideas, kinda about finding people after I moved here." Ember explains, taking out her guitar. She plays softly, humming in place of words she hadn't written yet.

As they settled into their respective spaces, Ember's initial nervousness began to transform into a shared sense of anticipation. Gracie's excitement proved to be a reassuring force, and they bounced ideas around, working well off each other. "I think this bit could be the chorus, if we have it repeated and part of it as the outro?" Gracie offers, plucking a few notes while she contemplates. Ember thinks for a moment, strumming and fitting the lyrics together in her mind. "And I need you sometimes, we'll be alright," Singing softly, she scribbles down the chords. "Yeah, going up there is a good idea, then maybe repeat like: met you at the right time, this is what it feels like." Gracie adds in, buzzing with excitement at the song that had been formed over the past few hours. "I never thought I'd finish this song, I'm not going to lie." Ember admits, looking at the page of lyrics, a little messy, but seemingly done. "You had most of it done if I'm honest, just needed to string it together." Gracie says, setting her guitar down and picking up her phone to check the time. "Damn, it's already been like 2 hours, do you want to take a quick break? There's pastries in the lounge." Time had flown by but once she was aware of the time, Ember's stomach was regretting skipping breakfast. "Yeah, that sounds good." The younger girl put her guitar down, feeling a little shyer now without the crutch of music.

Gracie leads them down a hallway and into another room with couches, a fridge, and a TV. "So, we kind of started pretty quick, I don't know much about you." She leaves the sentence open for Ember to share. "Oh, um yeah, sorry. I think I just got caught up in writing, I didn't mean to be rude," Ember starts apologizing but Gracie interrupts her gently, "No, no, you weren't rude at all, I just meant I want to get to know you as a person, y'know?" She opens the white pastry box, pushing it towards Ember. Relieved, she takes a blueberry muffin, nodding in thanks, "Um well, I'm a waitress, I work at that club I performed at. And oh my gosh, I'm just realizing you were there when I covered your song." Her face floods with embarrassment but Gracie just laughs good-naturedly, picking up a chocolate croissant. "It was so good, I was so flattered. Especially when you pointed out my friends and I in the crowd for being fans." Ember puts her head down, smiling as she remembers the group that was singing along. Sitting on one of the couches, she shakes her head, "That's so not fair, the lights were in my eyes, I had no idea it was you!" Gracie sits down on a loveseat nearby, eyes shining with amusement. "That part made it so much better, it was really authentic. I wanted to meet you before that song and the cover only solidified it." She admits a little sheepishly, "Then the sugar cube in a tea cup line sold it!" Ember grins and says, "I really appreciate that, thank you. So tell me a bit about you, I don't really know what to say about me, I'm not that interesting." Gracie shakes her head at that, "I don't believe that at all, but I can start. My middle name is Madigan and," She pauses to think of an icebreaker fact, "I have a weiner dog named Weenie." Ember snorts at that, "Okay, I'll just match. My middle name is Gray and I have a cat named Spoon." "Spoon is such a good name!" Gracie's face shifts to a confused expression mid-thought, "Wait, I thought your name was Ember Gray? Or is that just a stage name, oh my gosh have I been calling you a made up name?" Ember laughs at the slight panic in her voice. "No, my name is Ember Gray Collins, I just don't use my last name." She explains and Gracie deflates. "Good, that would've killed me. Is there a reason you go by Ember Gray or was it just for privacy stuff?" Ember feels a ball of nerves lift from her stomach and it lodges right in her throat as she thinks of how to deflect this. "Um, yeah it was just for privacy and stuff." She cleared her throat in an attempt to cover the voice crack, shifting in her seat. Gracie felt the air tense and noticed the change in her posture. The older girl filed that information away for later and changed the subject to favorite colors.

After Gracie finds out the girl's favorite color, movie, her go-to coffee spot, and after they spend a good amount of time exchanging pictures of their pets, the two make their way back to the studio. A few more hours go by until their studio time is up and they're gathering their stuff together. "I'm really glad we got to do this, I can tell this is the start of something great." Gracie says as they walk out together. Ember feels herself smile, "Me too." She pushes the door open and walks toward West 4th. "Don't forget to text me what your schedule looks like, I want to do this again!" Gracie calls after her and Ember turns around giving her a thumbs up and waving as the older girl turns to walk in the opposite direction. Turning back around to walk toward the subway, a lightness fills her and she can't wipe the smile off her face for the rest of the day. 

Authors Notes: caught procrastinating yet again. to be fair, i was sitting on a bench with a coffee and looking at the trees while i wrote this so it was kind of a romanticize-your-life moment not a write-your-lab-report-due-tuesday (!) moment . i hope you guys are enjoying this story, i would love any comments!

thanks for reading,

ella