Page 31 of The Ghost of You

I park my car and sit in it for a good ten minutes before I finally find the courage to get out. I grab my bag and my guitar out of the back seat. The door is locked, so I hit the doorbell and within a few seconds the buzzer sounds and the door opens.

I was blown away by the studio when I first saw it two days ago. But it was full of people then. Now I can take it all in. The front area is spacious with a few dark brown leather couches. There is a receptionist desk with a calendar, a lamp, and a set of business cards, but no chair. I am guessing Mason hasn’t hired anyone yet since he isn’t open for business. Behind the desk is a beautiful navy wall, spray-painted with a logo on it, Starlight Studios. The logo is white, green, and yellow with stars and a mountain built into the words. The paint drips from the bottom of the logo in a completely intentional way. And from the matching business cards, I can tell Mason has had this dream for a while and has been working diligently for this moment.

I walk down the short hallway to the room where the party was. The hallway is the same navy color but with a bunch of tiny lights built into the ceiling to make it look like stars. When I get to the big open room that’s part hang out room and part kitchen, I’m surprised to find it empty. A few empty beer bottles sit on the kitchen counter, but other than that the place is clean. An Xbox remote sits on the coffee table in front of the giant TV. I set my bag and guitar on the couch and make my way to the hallway that leads to the two recording rooms.

A door opens once I start down the hall and Mason walks out. “Hey Anna. Glad you came by.”

“Thanks for inviting me.”

“I was just finishing up a mix I was working on. If you want to set up in the lounge, I’ll be out in a few minutes. My friend, Dee, is coming by too. I don’t think you met him Saturday. He had to leave early.”

“Cool.”

I watch Mason go back into the room and I head back to the couch. I pull out my guitar to make sure it’s tuned. I take my notebook out and grip it against my chest.

No one has seen the words I’ve written in here. They are all new songs I’ve written over the past year and they are awful. Well, not entirely. But they need a lot of work. They need another set of eyes and ears to help them become beautiful.

I’m kind of happy I am alone right now so I can adjust to the environment I am in. I pick my guitar back up and play a few chords as I warm up my voice. I can feel the fear creeping up my spine as I sing. Is it weird a stranger is the first person to hear my music? I guess I have no one else to turn to. I lost contact with my bandmates a year after I lost Kyle. They were tired of my depression and my lack of willpower to move forward, to play music, to put my agony and heartache to music.

I start to sing one of my old songs that I wrote with Kyle. You think it would be hard to sing these songs, but it’s not. Because I know when we wrote these it was a much better time in our lives. We were happy then. These songs are not full of lies.

“I ain’t heard a voice like that in a long time.”

I come to a halt and screech when I hear someone come up behind me. I set my guitar down and turn my head to the side to see the man that walked in.

“When the hell did you move to Asheville? And when did you start singing Sparrows songs again?”

My racing heart slows as a smile takes up my whole face. Darnell Baker is standing in front of me. We were in the folk band together in college. He was one of my favorite people to write songs with. We always meshed perfectly. When you look at him, you wouldn’t think he would be in a folk band but he is a musical phenomenon. He can play almost any instrument. He loves hip hop and R&B as much as he loves country and folk.

He pulls me to him and wraps his arms around me in a tight hug.

“I didn’t know you lived here. Seraphina never told me.” He and Seraphina used to date, but now they hate each other. I don’t think anyone knows what happened with them.

“You do remember I’m from here? Also, if she knew I lived here, do you think she woulda told you?” he asks me, his dark eyes squinting at me.

I laugh. “She doesn’t know you’re here?”

“This place is small. But it ain’t that small. We are in different circles. Especially now that she is more a hippie than ever before.”

“She has her own way of seeing things.” I sit back on the couch. “So how have you been?”

“Livin’ the dream.”

I look over at him, one eyebrow raised as he pushes some of his long braids over his shoulder.

“I just got back from a tour with my rock band last week. But I need to fly out to Atlanta and LA soon to help with some songwriting.”

I smile. “You really are living the dream.”

He smiles back, his white teeth a stark contrast to his dark skin. “I’m not doin’ too bad for myself.”

“For a boy from the wrong side of the tracks,” we say at the same time.

“You two already become best friends? Did I miss my shot?” Mason asks as he walks into the room.

“Man, you didn’t tell me Anna May Cooper was the one hanging with us today,” Darnell says.

“I didn’t know you knew her Dee.”

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