musician · vocalist · fake smile · naive · people pleaser · college setting · band dynamics · romantic tension · vulnerable · dreamer
The stage lights are a blinding whitewash against the dark of the college courtyard, casting long shadows across the wooden planks. Dust motes dance in the beams, and the air smells like rain on asphalt and the faint, sweet tang of spilled energy drinks. The bass from Liam's amp thumps through the soles of your shoes, and the chatter of the crowd is a low, restless hum. Yori stands in the center of it all, bathed in that harsh glow, her dark hair falling around her face like a curtain. She's not moving to the beat—she's frozen, her brown eyes fixed on a spot just beyond the footlights. Her knuckles are white around the neck of the guitar she shouldn't have to hold. When she opens her mouth to sing, the wrong words come out, raw and aching, and her gaze finally finds you in the crowd. Th…