Page 86 of One More Made Up Love Song
Just the slow undoing of the lines?—
Where one thing ends
And something else begins?—
Something better wins.”
We play through the chorus one more time, and I lean into the lyrics about a woman with gold in her eyes and a promise in her smile and a shifting world I’m seeing for the first time.
It’s good. Iknowit’s good. So when the song ends and I look at my friends, I can’t figure out why they’re all staring at me. Maybe it’snotgood? Maybe I’ve forgotten how to make music and I need to find a new job?
But then Leo mutters a quiet,“Damn,Freddie,” and I let out the breath I’m holding.
“It’s good, right?” I say, and he nods.
“It’s better than good.”
Adam clears his throat. “I just have one question.”
I run a hand through my hair. “Okay.”
“Are you going to tell Ivy it’s about her? Or just let her figure it out on her own.”
I frown. “It isn’t about Ivy.”
“Come on,” Jace says. “You know it is.”
“It’s not,” I repeat.
Leo lifts an eyebrow. “Freddie.” He reaches for the sheet of paper I used to write out the lyrics the last time I was here, then reads, “You laugh, and I forget my name. Same joke, but it doesn’t land the same. The truth was there but too close to see, you’ve rewritten my world and set me free?”
“It’s aboutfindinglove generally,” I argue. “It isn’t about Ivy.”
“Because Ivydoesn’thave gold in her eyes?” Jace asks.
Adam reaches for the paper. “And you aren’t slowlyundoing the lines where friendship ends and something better begins?”
I don’t answer. Ican’tanswer. I didn’t intentionally set out to write a song about Ivy, but when I close my eyes, it’s definitelyhereyes I see when I’m singing.
I lean to the side and prop my guitar against a nearby stand, then drop my elbows onto my knees and stare at the floor.
“We’re not saying it’s a bad thing,” Adam says.
“We like Ivy,” Jace adds.
“Honestly, we weren’t surprised when we heard the news you were together. It wasmoresurprising when you told us it was a publicity stunt. We all kinda assumed this is where you were headed.”
I finally look up. “Really? You all thought that?”
They nod in unison.
“You’re good together,” Adam says. “And she’s great.”
I let out a little chuckle, thinking about our interview at the premiere last night and the way things seemed to shift after that. “She, uh…” I hesitate, suddenly unsure if I want to relay the entire story she told to Vivica Rose last night. “Last night she answered an interview question about when she knew I was the one for her. And she told a story from a long time ago. Like, three years long.”
“Was she pretending?” Leo asks. “Like, just making it up for the sake of the interview?”
“That’s what I thought at first,” I say. “But it didn’t really seem like it. I know Ivy. And there was something about her tone. It felt like she was telling the truth.”
