𝐀𝐒 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐄 ➳ o. joyner ✔

𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟒

'my wildest dreamings could not foresee.'

— 🏹🕊

"Hey, you ready to record?" Owen asked, pushing my shoulder.

I let out a shaky breath, "As ready as I'll ever be." I told him with a forced smile.

"You're going to do great like always." He told me, smiling.

Nodding, I put my hands in my hoodie pocket, fiddling with my fingers. It's become a habit now, not just an anxiety thing anymore.

"Kenny will be in there to help. He made my recording process so much easier." Owen explained.

"Yeah, thanks." I walked off, grabbing a bottle of water.

Before I could walk back, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. Looking up, I saw that it was Owen. Sighing, I returned the hug, laying my head on his chest. My nerves slowly fell away as we stilled in the moment.

"You're gonna rock it, A." He told me, rubbing my back comfortingly, pulling away from the hug.

Nodding, I took a deep breath. "Thank you. I needed that."

"Of course." Owen smiled, putting his hand in his pockets.

I checked my phone for the time, "I gotta go. I'll see you later, yeah?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah." He breathed out, clearing his throat.

"Alright. Wish me luck." I crossed my fingers, walking out of the room.

As I walked in, the room stilled as everyone's eyes turned to me. Excitement and creativity was buzzing around the place. Moments later, Kenny spoke up.

"Great. Everyone is here. Aisla, you ready?" Kenny asked, turning around in his chair.

I stood from the couch, taking a deep breath. "I guess so."

"You can go ahead and enter the booth so we can test the mics and get used to your sound." A sound guy explained.

• • •

After at least 20 takes, we finally got the song (decently) recorded. Thank heavens for auto tone and pitch correction. I'm just excited to hear the finished product.

Now that the hard part was over, I could finally relax. Leaving the recording room, I quickly texted Owen.

aisla - just finished. didn't make anyone's ears bleed, i think 🤔

oboe 🧢🐐 - i'm sure you killed it. coming to you rn

Once he had finally arrived, I smiled, walking over to him. He raised his eyebrows, looking down at me.

"So, how'd it go?" He asked.

"Ugh, terrible. I had to sing the same part over and over because it didn't sound the way Kenny wanted it to. And I kept forgetting the words even though they were right in front of me." I told him, sighing.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad. You know you're your own worst critic. I thought I bombed my part in "Now or Never" but when I heard it on the playback, I actually did pretty good." Owen said.

"Yeah, but you literally have a voice of an angel." I groaned.

"Uh, Miss, do you know who you're talking about? Compared to you, my voice is garbage." He rolled his eyes.

I crossed my arms over my chest, "How rude!"

He laughed, shaking his head, "Just telling the truth."

"You're being mean to yourself." I pointed at him.

"So are you." He said, pointing back at me.

"Whatever. Let's go. I'm starving." I said, grabbing his hand to pull him to my car.

"Where are we going?" Owen asked, getting inside the vehicle.

"Um, Sorella?" I suggested.

"God, yes. Drive." He said, his stomach growled.

I saluted, laughing as we started to make our way to the restaurant.

• • •

"Thanks for paying, but I get the check next time." I told Owen, glaring at him.

"Yeah, okay." He shook his head, laughing.

"I wanna do something nice for once." I huffed.

"Too bad. I like being a gentleman." He stuck his tongue out at me, making me flip him off.

—