Dane and Zion

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

~Zion~

       Dane and I officially sent in the demo to the two record labels we were most interested in. We were going to keep looking for my labels while we were waiting for a reply, but it could take a while to find one we both wanted to sign with. I wasn't going to sign to a place Dane didn't trust or didn't think would be good for my career.

       I trusted him with everything I had.

       Which was another reason why I just wanted to finish this song. I still didn't know if I was going to sing it to Dane, but I still wanted to complete the song. Just in case I wanted to sing it to him. Or if I wanted to tell him that I had a song I wanted him to look at, give him the song, and hoped he realized that it was about him.

       I doubt that would happen so I was honestly leaning towards singing the song to him. I had to figure out when and where, but that could wait.

       There wasn't going to be anything to figure out if I didn't finish writing it. At least I was close to finishing it. I had an idea how I wanted the rest of the song to go and if it worked out, it meant I just had to write a bridge.

       I might also get Alika to look it over once I was done. She was right about what she said before; siblings were brutally honest. If she didn't think the song was good, she would tell me. If she thought the song was actually worth singing, she would tell me.

       I really hoped it was worth singing.

       I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish the song anytime soon. For the past hour or so, I've been staring at my notebook, trying to think of something to write down. Even if it was something I was completely satisfied with; I could always rewrite it later. But nothing was coming to my mind.

       I sighed, decided to do what I normally did when I wanted to take a short break without moving away from the song. My guitar had been resting on my lap this whole time, so I propped it up, getting ready to play the song I've been so stuck on.

       However, right as I was about to strum, I stopped myself. I couldn't play this song if I was stuck right now, which made no sense. I've done it before. Whenever I was stuck, I would play what I had so far to see if anything came to mind.

       Yet for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to play right now.

       I groaned, wanting to hit myself in the face with my guitar over and over until I got some inspiration. I didn't even know why I was stuck right now. Yeah, I was a horrible songwriter, but I was writing from my heart right now. Dane was my inspiration, so I shouldn't be running low on ideas.

       Maybe I should just start taking this slow and not try to rush it. I didn't have to finish it as soon as I could. Sure, it would be great if I finished it soon, but I would rather have a polished song that took me a while to write than a trash song that didn't take much time.

       Another thing I could try to do was actually sing the song. Yeah, I know, that sounded weird. I was writing a song but I haven't yet actually sung it aloud. Honestly, I was too nervous about my family members hearing it and making a big deal out of it. They did all know that I was hopelessly in love with Dane, but this was different. This was me trying to take a step towards confessing my feelings for him, and I didn't want my family to make a big deal out of it. It would only make me feel even more nervous about confessing to Dane.

       However, right now, Alika was the only one at home, and she was doing her homework in her bedroom, so she might not even hear me. Besides, even if she did, I wouldn't mind. She already knew I was writing a song for Dane, and I did promise myself to let her hear it before I do anything with the song.

       This time, I was able to start actually playing the song without stopping myself because of my lack of ideas. Maybe singing it was all it took.

       I didn't stop playing the guitar when I got to the bridge. I had to stop singing since I didn't have any lyrics yet but as for the chords, it was like they just came to me. I was playing what felt naturally.

       I quickly wrote them down when I finished before going back to the chorus right before the bridge. There had to be something I could write at the bridge. Something, anything, I felt about my and Dane's relationship right now.

       I wrote down a few ideas, but none of them seemed right so far. I kept playing around with the song, not giving up. I was so close to finishing. All I had to do was write the bridge, and then I was all done.

       Eventually, I found a line that I think worked. I played it with the whole song to make sure it did work and once I was done, I felt a ton of weight being lifted off my shoulders. I think this meant that I was proud of the song. That it was good to go.

       Well, not yet.

       "Alika!" I called, hoping she would hear my despite her being upstairs.

       She did. "What?!"

       "I need help!"

       "I'm busy!"

       "It's with the song I'm writing!"

       That was all it took for Alika to leave her bedroom and come downstairs to the room where I was. "You should have just said so in the first place," she said. "So what exactly do you need help with? If it's with the writing, don't bother asking."

       "It's not," I said, handing her my notebook with the completed song. "Well, not really. Can you look at the lyrics and tell me what you really think about them? If they suck, please tell me so I know if I should fix it."

       Alika read the song before handing the notebook back to me. "I think it really is good. A lot better than what you've written in the past. It would help more if I could actually hear it, though. See if it actually flows well."

       "Yeah, sure," I said, putting the notebook in a place where I could see it from where I was sitting. To make sure I played the song with the best of my abilities, I thought about Dane the entire time.

       Which wasn't really hard because he was always on my mind.

       When I finished the song, I looked at Alika. "So... Do you think it's performance ready?"

       "Are you actually going to sing it for Dane?" Alika asked with a smile on her face.

       "I don't know yet," I said. "It's an idea I have but... Yeah, I don't know yet. Knowing that the song is performance ready would really help me make a decision, though."

       "Then yeah, I think it's performance ready," Alika said. "Even if you just perform it with your guitar. I think it's a great song to perform acoustically. So long story short, you should sing it this Friday at Hummingbird."

       "No."

       "Awe, come on. Like I said, it's performance ready. I could tell you really put your heart into the song. And I really think Dane is going to like it."

       "...Are you sure?"

       "Yes, I'm sure. Don't take my word for it, but I really do think he likes you back. You two just have this amazing connection. There's no way he doesn't like you back. So..."

       I hesitated before sighing. "Alright. Friday night, at Hummingbird, I'll sing this song to Dane."

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yes zion you go make a move

also yes alika you be a supportive sister. my sisters just tell me i smell :( and totally not because i tell them they smell first lol

also no spoilers but i can't wait for the next chapter ;)