Everyone has a song that captures who they are. No one but Leila Gonzalez can hear them.
Melodies and tunes fill her head everywhere she goes, and all she wants is to replicate them in her songwriting. There's just one problem: she sucks at songwrit...
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"LEILA, WHAT DO UNICORNS eat for lunch?" Elisa asked. Her little sister pranced around their shared bedroom, holding up her pink plushy in her chubby hands. The bubblegum pop song that blared inside went in tune with her little steps. "Dibbles went out again, so now I have to take care of her favorite unicorn. But now I don't know what to feed it."
"I don't know," Leila responded. She hummed, tapping her chin with her index finger. "Maybe a bowl of marshmallows?"
Elisa stopped to ponder, then raised the unicorn plushy to eye level. "Do you like marshmallows?"
Leila chuckled and went back to her notebook. Elisa's song continued to blast into her system, and she found herself writing down a few of the lines in glittery purple gel ink.
Walk out in your pink dress, head high That's what princesses are made of Tea, biscuits, and a smile Prove them wrong all day long
She raised her eyebrows at the lyrics. Elisa didn't stop her twirling, still in deep conversation with her unicorn. One day, she would be an unshakeable force. The world better be ready for Elle Woods version two.
Her phone rang, interrupting the rest of Elisa's song. She let go of her pen, and snatched it to see Neil's name pop up at the top of her screen. She rolled her eyes and answered the call.
"Why?"
"Well, good afternoon to you too," he greeted.
Elisa halted in the middle of the room, accidentally messing up their white fluffy area rug. Her eyes blinked several times as Leila held up a finger to signal her phone call. She nodded and skipped out into the living room, leaving the door wide open.
"Is there a reason for this random call?" Leila asked as she got up to close the door.
"Actually, yes," Neil's voice slithered into her ear. "How do you feel about a musical adventure?"
She frowned. "A musical adventure?"
"Do you dare meet me outside of Uncle's shop?"
Leila was unable to respond because Neil cut the call right there. She stared around at her room, the division between her side and Elisa's explosion of pink, and gnawed on the inside of her cheek. She spied her opened notebook with purple lyrics, and sighed. She would go crazy if she didn't at least check what he was going on about.
Before she could run out of her room, her phone buzzed with a text message from Neil.
Don't forget your guitar, firecracker
Leila didn't know whether to laugh or freak out. Neil proved time and time again that he had more guts than any other human being on Earth, and it annoyed her relentlessly. And yet, she made her way to Soul & Strings to see what kind of adventure he planned.
