𝚃𝚘𝚛𝚗- ᑕ0ᗰᑭᒪᗴ丅ᗴ

ch 31: sunny

I could barely hold in my excitement as I watched Xavier, my producer, waving the disc around in front of me and before long I was reaching out for it, hopping up as he held it above his head.

"Whoa, easy, Kid."

"Zay, I can't help it. I finished the album."

Xavier, set the cased disc on the table next to him and shrugged.

"Well, you finished recording it. Now, it's time for me and Kai to mix this bad boy then send it to New York for mastering."

I smiled, still buzzing with excitement.

"I still can't believe we knocked out twenty-two songs in three weeks."

Xavier held up his hands in defense as he smiled.

"Hey, that was all you-- in that booth."

He pointed back to the recording booth and I nodded as I bit my lip, knowing that of the twenty songs we recorded, there were still notebooks worth of songs I had to choose from.

"Celebrating tonight?"

I shrugged at his question, still staring at the disc.

"My dad was saying something about going to his restaurant downtown."

✨

Later that night, as Gia zipped me into the new piece she'd made, I tilted my head from side to side, staring at myself in the mirror.

"Gee... this is so fucking cute!"

"You're right, Sun. This might actually be some of my best work."

I couldn't stop looking down and staring at the chrome heels she'd paired with the loose-fitting black bodysuit. The shoes matched the silver body chain under the bodysuit along with the diamond studs in my ears.

"Girls, come on, let's go! The limo's here!"

My dad's voice boomed from downstairs and Gia's eyes bulged with elation and we both grabbed our phones, before making a dash out of my room.

✨

Lounge26, the restaurant/bar my dad owned along with my uncle, had the prettiest private rooftop, and it was decked out in purple and black all for me.

It seemed like my parents had invited everyone and as I finally made it to my seat next to my dad, at the head of the large table, everyone was there to congratulate me.

Uncle Marcus and Aunt Kat even brought my cousins, Nico and Logan, who were now fifteen and thirteen, respectively, and both staring at Gia.

"Aww... Looks like I've got my own set of brothers, too."

Gia whispered next to me as she leaned in and I rolled my eyes and smirked sarcastically, before looking further down the table where the O'Connells sat.

My eyes darted between the two girls sitting between Tristan and Nate, and I can't even lie, it stung, but I didn't have a chance to let it show because a moment later, a huge bouquet of black sunflowers were delivered to the table.

Everyone commented on how beautiful the arrangement was and began asking who they were from long after I began searching for the note.

I read it and sighed.

Sunny💜

Hope began scorching through my veins like lava, but when I looked up to see Nate too focused on Mariah to even notice me, all that hope was extinguished as his lips found her temple.

I pinched the inside of my wrists under the table and told myself to just keep breathing.

This dinner would be over soon.

🖤