AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Which one’s your favorite?” I asked.
Kyla hesitated for a moment as she scanned the shelf.
“I have a few favorites. But my absolute number one would have to beThe Time Thiefby Levi Grenville. It’s the one book that’s guaranteed to bring me out of a bad mood, no matter what’s happening in my real life.
I smiled. That book was one of my favorites, too. It was about a woman who was an amputee and a chemist, who worked on finding a cure for a new virus while fighting to save the life of her colleague, who was also the man she loved. I had a first edition copy in my own library, signed by Levi himself. In fact, I had an entire library full of books that I’d bet Kyla would adore, and it was where I spent many an afternoon when I wasn’t filming, reading probably as much as she did.
I made a mental note to post the book to her when I returned to L.A., as Kyla led us into the living room.
“Cool guitar.” Dean picked up the instrument from its stand as Kyla winced. One of the strings had snapped and curled around the fretboard and the others were dusty and loose.
“That was my mom’s. Be careful with it.”
Dean balanced the guitar on his knee and strummed a chord, which sounded like someone trying to play a tennis racket. He placed it back on the stand.
“Do you have any new strings? I could get it working again.”
Kyla opened and closed several drawers that seemed to be packed full of random things.
“They’re here, I swear.”
The last drawer held what she was looking for. She pulled out a square package that looked like an envelope with an image of an acoustic guitar on it, and Dean’s eyes lit up.
“That’s it.” He sat on the couch and busied himself with the instrument until each string produced a beautiful sound. “Want to hear a song I wrote?”
“You writesongs?” Kyla gasped and Dean nodded.
“Showoff,” I muttered. Dean ignored me and launched into his song as he strummed. The sound was incredible; I had no idea he was such a talented singer. It brought Kyla’s dad and April into the living room and we all stared in silence as he played the guitar and sang.
Lately my mask’s been slipping
And without it I can finally see
The ledge that I’ve been gripping
With fingertips with joints of jelly
This isn’t the life I pictured
When people asked me what I wanted to be
When I grew up and
Grew into the authentic me
Because I’m not perfect
But now I know what I need
Yeah, I know I’m not perfect
But I’m done with all this Hollywood greed…
A high-pitched beeping interrupted the chorus.
“Shit!” April raced into the kitchen and Kyla grabbed a pillow and ran into the hallway to wave clean air under the smoke alarm.
“What’s burning?”
