Tone Deaf

Chapter Two

Devon:

“Have you lost your damn mind?” I practically screech, aware that even though the door of J-Pow’s office is closed, the entire building can probably hear me.

Despite my dramatics, J-Pow remains completely calm. He’s probably used to divas exploding on him all the time. He takes it like a pro.

“Kyle Carter? You want to sign Kyle effing Carter?” I exclaim.

J-Pow sighs, crossing his hands. “Devon, do you know what great marketing you could get out of this? Competitors under the same label?”

I hold my hand to my forehead, barely able to believe it.

“You want me to work in the same building as Kyle Carter.” I state, making it sound like I’m being forced to eat my own shit.

Hey. I’m a celebrity. I can be an asshole when I want to be.

“Calm down, Devon. You won’t even have to see him, I promise. I’ll make sure all your meetings are hours apart so you won’t even have to risk bumping into him, okay?” J-Pow holds up his hands, obviously trying to make a compromise. I cross my arms, stubbornly.

“What about studio time? I still have dibs on Studio C, right?” I ask.

J-Pow tries to hide a smirk when I say ‘dibs’. Yes, I get it; I’m still nineteen, whatever.

“Devon, Kyle won’t even be in the studios for quite a while. He’s just released an album, remember?” J-Pow says, seeming to already be losing interest in the conversation.

“How could I forget?” I grumble to myself.

J-Pow rolls his eyes. “Now instead of complaining, why don’t you head over to your precious Studio C and try and write something before the whole world forgets about you.”

I scowl at him, but then leave, making sure to storm out dramatically.

I am so freaking pissed off.

I am actually so mad right now.

Living on the same planet as Kyle Carter is quite enough, now I have to be signed on the same label as him? How the hell did J-Pow think this was a good idea?

The entire world knows how much Kyle and I hate each other. What is it going to say to my fans when they find out we’re working under the same label?

I feel like I’m betraying them. In what way was this beneficial to anyone?

Besides J-Pow, of course. ‘Cause Lord knows how much money he’s going to be making when he has both me and Kyle under his thumb.

“Hey Devon.” My primary sound engineer, Mike, greets me as I enter Studio C. “We writing today?”

I nod. “Hell yes.”

On the bright side to an otherwise shitty situation, my anger towards Kyle Carter has been enough fuel for me to get started on a song.

As we continue, Mike seems to get more and more hyped when he realizes that this isn’t some garbage I’m going to crumble up and throw away ten minutes later—this is good.

By the time we’re done, which is about three hours later, and I’ve recorded enough for Mike to be able to cut a demo, my anger has subsided and I give Mike a high-five.

“Dude, that was sick.” Mike says, nodding approvingly. “New album, here we come.”

I grin at him, feeling immensely better.