Spark's Fly

Chapter 6

After three months together I move things around so I have a weekend off. With that free time I convince Jisoo to join me at a recording studio.

“Just play one song. I already told Teddy this is your first time doing this and he promised to just listen, no matter how rough it sounds.”

Jisoo looks nervous. I reach out, squeezing her hand in reassurance.

“I believe you have something special in there,” I point to her heart, “And I don’t think you want to bottle it up anymore.”

She’s still nervous when she picks up her guitar, almost dropping it. I start to get up but sit back down as she takes in a breath to calm herself. Looking to my right my music friend waits patiently as she sits down and tunes her guitar for a moment.

A melancholy tune begins as she softly “oohs” and “aahs” along with it before she starts, “I guess you really did it this time, left yourself in your warpath…” there is an ache to her voice, a raw emotion that makes my chest tighten with emotion. I glance at Teddy to see if he’s experiencing anything but his face is passive, “Wasn’t it beautiful when you believed in everything and everybody believed in you? It’s alright, just wait and see. Your string of lights is still bright to me. Oh, who you are is not where you’ve been. You’re still an innocent.”

I’m transported to my past, with fireflies and warm blankets wrapped with steaming cocoa, “Who you are is not what you did. You’re still an innocent.” Key change, “Time turns flames to embers. You’ll have new Septembers, every one of us has messed up too. Minds change like the weather, I hope you remember, today is never too late to be brand new.”

She draws out the last words as I feel my eyes burn with emotion. Again I look to my right but he’s like stone. I give up on him as I lose myself completely in the song. When the final chord sounds I take in a shaky breath as I turn away to hide my emotions.

Never has a song made me feel so much. Everything about her is magical.

Jisoo looks nervous when I look back as she stares at Teddy.

“You wrote that?” is his only response.

She nods, looking sick as she chokes out a, “Yes. I wrote it. I wrote and composed the melody when I was fifteen.”

He sits back, folding his arms over his chest as he shows an emotion for the first time, “Fifteen.” His lower lip sticks out as he nods his head with an impressed expression, “You’ve got some real skill. But I’d like see how much you’ve grown since then. Can you play something for me you’ve written recently?”

Jisoo looks crestfallen as she admits, “I haven’t written much lately. I’d given up on doing this.”

He clicks his tongue, “You seem to have had some real talent. That’s a shame.”

I leap to her defense as I say, “She still does. I’ve seen some of her recent stuff.”

Jisoo’s lips tell me she’s not happy with me butting in.

Teddy rubs his stubble as he asks, “If that’s the case, why don’t you play one of them?”

“I’ve only written lines of text. I haven’t made anything into a full song. And I haven’t composed a melody in years.”

My eyes dart from her back to Teddy as he stands, “If you write something new call me, I might be interested.”

He says something to me but I barely register it as I say my goodbyes. Jisoo looks as stunned as I feel as she stands with her guitar hanging in her hand. Breaking free of the stupor first, I rush over as I take her hands in mine.

“Did you hear that? He wants to hear more. That’s a good sign.”

“It is?”

I nod, “It means he sees potential. You got your foot in the door, Jisoo.”

The gloom that had settled on her fades away as her face lights up. The next moment we’re both beaming as we hold each other while bounce around the room like preteens after finding out they got tickets to their favorite band.

Though I don’t know if anything will come of this I choose to be optimistic as we talk about how she can prepare for down the road.

“But what should I write about?”

“Just continue writing like you’ve always done. About your life. About your experiences. About your heart.”

A soft smile plays on her lips as she looks off at the sky as we head outside, “My heart. Yeah, I’ll do that.”

A light breeze plays at the curls cascading down the side of her face. I watch them flutter as I feel my heart shiver in my chest. This hope I see in her eyes, I’d love to see more of her.