almost | taylor swift au

chapter 33

Taylor looks at herself in the mirror one last time. She takes a deep breath and plays with the cuffs of the long sleeves of her red sweater. It's been two weeks since she has moved to New York and she's never felt more inspired artistically. And today's the big day. She's finally about to get to go to a recording studio for the first time.

Gracie sticks her head into Taylor's room. "You need anything for today?"

"No, I think I'm good," Taylor laughs. "I feel like I'm a kid on my first day of school again. Like, oh my god, I'm so nervous."

"I feel like I'm sending my kid off to the first day of school." She winks at Taylor, and then, "You're going to kill it. I'm so excited for you and I can't wait to hear all about it tonight." 

Gracie's words are reassuring. Taylor walks over to her and gives her friend a hug. "Thank you. That means a lot."

"I'm so proud of you, and I know that Anthony is too. What song are you taking in?"

"It's a new one that I just wrote a few nights ago. I didn't play it for you yet."

Gracie places her hand on her chest and gasps. "What? I didn't get the treat of being the first one to hear it? Even when we live under the same roof?" She ends her sentence with a playful smirk, causing Taylor to laugh.

"I'm not sure it's quite perfect yet, I want some help on a few lyrics... which the producer I'm working with told me would be a good starting point, so I think I'll be in good shape. But I've got other songs that I can offer up that I'm completely happy with and I'm ready to preserve on a recording if that's what he wants."

"What's the new one you wrote about?"

Taylor bites her lip. She knows that Gracie doesn't like Jett. She never has... and she's always had very good reasons to feel that way. But he was important to Taylor. And that's exactly who she wrote the song about.

Gracie can tell by Taylor's body language. "You wrote it about Jett, huh? He's still taking up more space than he should be in your brain?"

The blonde girl lets out a sigh. "Yeah. I wrote it the other night after I found out... well, I found out that he's in New York."

"You're kidding me."

"I wish," Taylor rolls her eyes. "He just posted this little thing on his story... it was the view out of a window on that super hazy day we had, when it felt like we were looking out into a cloud. It was a really nice picture... but it just sparked these lyrics in my head... and I really liked them, so I just kept writing. It all flowed out of me in like, fifteen minutes."

"What were your first lyrics, if I'm allowed to know?"

"'I bet, you're sitting in your chair by the window, looking out at the city, and I bet, sometimes you wonder 'bout me.'"

"Oh, I love that," Gracie tells her.

"It's not quite as... 'I hate Jett Levine' as you'd probably like it to be."

"But you're coping in your own way, and you're allowed to feel sadness, regret, and any number of other feelings. It's all on the path to healing. Which I know you're doing."

Taylor smiles. "Thanks Gracie. That means a lot to me."

"Now, go out there and knock them dead, okay?"

"Okay," Taylor nods, picking up her tote bag.

"Smile for Mommy's picture," Gracie giggles, holding up her iPhone and snapping a photograph of an unsuspecting Taylor. The shot is caught in the perfect moment, just as she's letting out a giggle. The singer is holding her journal in one hand and has the most genuine of smiles on her face.