Reborn: No More Songs for Him

Synopsis

I went back to the time I was twenty-two, the summer I graduated from college. When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the floor of the school’s music room, my back pressed against the cold tile. Cicadas screamed outside the window. My phone lit up with a message from Ryan Pierce. It read: [Sylvia, have you finished the new song? The company’s breathing down my neck. They need the demo by Friday, so I’m counting on you. Hang in there!] In my previous life, I would have jumped up immediately and started writing, even if I had a fever, just to get the song to him before the deadline. Because I thought he needed me. Because I believed that once I helped make him famous, he would keep his promise: put my name on the songs and let the whole world know I was the one who wrote them. Twelve years later, he had become a superstar. But my name had never appeared on a single one of his songs. Whenever I brought up the credit, he always had an excuse. The timing wasn't right. The company wouldn't allow it. There was nothing he could do. But it all meant the same thing: Keep writing. Just don't put your name on it. I stared at his message for a long time before typing four words. [I'm not writing anymore.] Then I shut off my phone. Lying on the music room floor, listening to the cicadas outside, I thought, ‘How beautiful this summer is.’ ***** I got up from the piano bench, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and headed for the door. As I passed him, he reached out to grab my arm, but I sidestepped him. “Sylvia.” His voice suddenly turned cold, the coaxing tone gone. “If you walk away now, don’t come crawling back when you regret it.” I didn’t even look back. “I won’t be the one who’ll regret this.”