Invisible Scars

Chapter 8

I tapped my pen against the notebook, trying to catch the beat still buzzing in my head from rehearsal. We were good—no, we were great—but something was missing. Fifth Element needed something new, something big. A song that hit harder, with lyrics that made people feel us. I leaned back in my chair, thinking about the kind of energy we brought when we were on stage together. Unstoppable. Fierce.

My phone buzzed on the desk, and I glanced at the screen. Lauren's text popped up.

"Got any ideas for our next anthem? I'm feeling something loud, like our vibe is unstoppable."

I smiled. Lauren always knew what was up. I flipped to a fresh page in my notebook, the blank space staring at me, daring me to fill it. A melody started to hum in the back of my mind, and I scribbled down a few lines.

You've been knocked down, I know the pain
But we rise up like a hurricane
Don't need no saving, don't need no hand
We're building this empire, girl, we're the plan.

I read the verse out loud softly to myself, nodding. Yeah, that felt right. Strong. Real. It was the kind of thing we all needed to hear sometimes, especially when life knocked us down. We didn't need anyone to save us—we had each other, and we'd figure it out.

I could already picture us on stage, belting it out, making everyone in the crowd feel it. I tapped my pen again, letting the chorus build in my head. The hook needed to be catchy, something that hit with a punch, something we'd own completely.

We're the Fifth Element, can't be contained
Breaking the rules, rewriting the game
From the ashes, we rise again
So watch us fly, 'cause this is our reign.

I smiled as the words spilled onto the page. This was it. The chorus was the heart of the song, the part everyone would be shouting back at us by the end. We were the Fifth Element—untouchable, unbreakable, and ready to own everything we walked into.

I started on the second verse, thinking about how far we'd all come. It hadn't been easy, but no one could take away what we had built together.

We've been through fire, we've been through rain
But no one's gonna stop this train
You'll see us shining, can't dim our light
Together we rise, ready to fight.

I leaned back, reading it over. This was it. The anthem we needed. Every word felt right, felt like us. Fifth Element wasn't just about the music—it was about our journey. Everything we had been through, everything we had fought for, was wrapped into these lines.

I grabbed my phone and hit record on a quick voice memo, my voice low as I sang through the chorus. We're the Fifth Element, can't be contained... It felt so right. The sound of it had this energy that made my heart race. I sent the memo to the group chat with a quick note: "Got something. It's called 'Unbreakable.' Tell me what you think."

The replies came almost instantly—Lauren's excited "YES!!!", and Kiera's "This is fire, girl!" Kiera is Lauren's girlfriend and our new choreographer. Lauren insisted on it since I was getting further along into my pregnancy and I really shouldn't be creating any new choreography. I grinned. Yeah, this was going to be something. I could already feel the adrenaline of performing it live.

I leaned back in my chair, phone still buzzing with texts. The energy from creating something that mattered, that was us, had me wired. I could already picture us performing it—our voices blending together, harmonizing like we always did, and that moment when the crowd just feels it. Fifth Element wasn't going anywhere but up.