you're just as far in as you'll ever be out

if you're lost you can be found

It felt weird being in the studio again. Wrong almost.

Danielle fiddled with the oversized headphones for the umpteenth time and sighed when she missed her mark yet again. She groaned and ripped off the headphones in protest, ignoring Este's glance through the booth. Danielle dramatically threw the door open and groaned.

"I hate this fucking song."

Este bit her lip in an effort to stop herself from laughing. "It's for some weird dystopian movie. What did you expect?"

"I don't know," Danielle snapped, tugging at her hair. "I need a break."

"I'll say. You sound so flat."

"You're flatter!" Danielle yelled back. She didn't even care the random producer they were working with was present.

"D, please," Este feigned embarrassment, self-consciously covering her chest. "Let's not bring my chest size into this."

Danielle glared at her sister and turned on her heel. "I'm leaving."

Este opted not to argue and gestured for her sister to leave. It had been almost a week since their disastrous Palm Springs trip and Danielle was still on edge. The record company was still not pleased with Alana's absence from the band and was iffy on releasing another album without her. Este took it better than Danielle did, as she did with most things.

Danielle got in her car and instinctively drove to her parents' house. Traffic was lighter than usual which made her grateful something was on her side. She was headed for some sort of breakdown like her sister and nothing seemed to help. Everything was changing so fast and she hated it. She hated that nothing was what it used to be.

Her phone vibrated quite loudly in the cup holder. When she saw it was Este, she quickly hit the decline button and would deal with the angry voicemail later. They only had a few days to get the song recorded but with the way things were going, it was not going to happen.

While they insisted on playing every instrument themselves, it was hard since neither Este nor Danielle could play the piano to save their lives. Alana was the only one who could.

And Danielle was somehow going to make that happen.

She got out of the car and stopped short when her mom was coming out of the house, coffee in hand and clearly on her way to work.

"Oh, hi, honey. I thought you were in the studio all morning?"

Danielle felt so childish but she really needed her mother. Badly. "Uh, yeah," she whispered with a shrug. "I needed a break."

"Everything okay?"

"Kind of," Danielle replied, her voice breaking a bit. She could feel the tears pricking in the corner of her eyes.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing," Danielle lied with a forced smile, momentarily closing her eyes. Her mother already had one daughter to worry about. She didn't need two. "Is Alana home?"

"The queen is still sleeping."

Danielle smiled and gripped the door handle so her mother could go to work. "Do you mind if I hang here? I just need to relax."

"Of course, sweetie. Keep an eye on your sister, okay? She's been iffy ever since you guys got back from Palm Springs. She told me she had fun but I don't know. Did something happen while you were away?"

Yes.

"Nope," Danielle lied again. "I'll talk to her." Her mother smiled and gave her a hug goodbye, rushing to her car when she realized she was running late.