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“Me?” Emberlynn raked her hand back through her hair. “I would never.”
“Honestly, just keep steady. Keep going at it like this, and you’ll have it in the bag.”
“Mm. If you say so.” Her expression was twisted up in self-doubt as she turned back to her noodles, poking at the thick-cut strips of beef tongue on top, scallions drifting away on the soup surface. Behind her, the door chimed open as Charlie and her friend from the school came in, chattering away in that way that said they must have had a day off today because they were probably both a drink or two in. It was an odd ache in my stomach thinking how I’d end up in a place where I wouldn’t know all these things about everyone around me.
I pulled my focus back to Emberlynn, and I put a hand on her arm. “You don’t have to do it all right now,” I said. “You’re already making a ton of progress for how much time you have left. Maybe take a break.”
Emberlynn pouted. “I don’t do breaks.”
“You could stand to learn from Paisley. The girl’s never worked hard a day in her life.”
That got a grin out of her. “Eh… I think it’s nice the way we contrast each other.”
I pursed my lips. “You contrast each other plenty in how clean your houses are. You don’t need to contrast by beating yourself up too.”
Emberlynn paused, looking down at her soup again. “Hey, this is random, but… how close are you with Pais, anyway? I feel like you kinda drop off the radar in the winter, but she was still talking about going to harass you.”
I kept my expression impassive as I drank my tea, setting it down gently. “I can’t shake her. She keeps climbing the tree behind the house and coming in through my roof. She basically kept breaking into my house all winter, even when I was trying to keep to myself.”
She hung her head. “Why am I not surprised… should I buy you a padlock?”
Dammit, I could have bought myself a padlock. Mister Hartley at the hardware store treated me like a spoiled daughter of his and probably would haveaccidentallyforgotten to charge me if I went in to pick one up. And I wasn’t going to think about why I hadn’t just done it already. “I doubt it would stop her,” I settled on saying.
“Hm.”
She looked like there was something she was weighing whether or not to say, and I didn’t want to hear it. The less said about me and Paisley, the better. I cut in with, “So, any reason you still look uncertain about the song?”
She grimaced. “Just… it’s nothing.”
“Ah. Sure is a lot of feelings for nothing.”
“Yeah…” She buried her face in the noodles, picking up the bowl and slurping at the broth. “You’re telling me,” she said finally, setting the bowl back down, still avoiding my gaze.
“Everything okay with you and Ar?”
“Yeah. Just… worried about myself, I guess,” she mumbled, fussing with her chopsticks. “Her newest launch didn’t go as well as it could have, but she’s been picking it up like there was never a problem to begin with. She’swaytoo good at everything. And sometimes I…” She shrugged, shrinking further into herself. “I worry if I’m… measuring up.”
I pursed my lips, studying her. “Has Aria said anything to make you feel like you aren’t?”
“Never. She wouldn’t dream of it.” She laughed drily. “She acts like I’m the impressive one…”
“I think youareplenty impressive. You’ve come a long way in your music.”
She winced. “Yeah…?”
“Yeah. I mean it. It’s been a long, bumpy road, but you’ve overcome a hell of a lot of stuff.”
“And gone back to the same label that screwed me over the worst,” she sighed, looking down.
“I think it’s a sign you’ve got guts. And strength of will. So—all things considered, you’re doing well. Aria’s doing really well, too, but… all that money mostly comes from her getting obscenely lucky with her first launch. Strip that part out, and I’d say you two are doing equally well.”
“Mm. Maybe.” She scratched her neck. “I feel like she’s still miles ahead of me even then, but… she’d probably say the same thing about me.”
“Exactly. You can’t trust your brain. Getting an outside opinion was the right move.” I paused. “On that note—have you talked to Paisley about this?”
“Oh, um… nah. Not really.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Sore subject? Everything okay between you two?”
