Chapter 1: Songbird

Dazzling, multicolored lights. The roar of the crowd. The addicting rhythm of a thundering drum and harmonic guitar. These are the things that brought life into the hungered heart of Aria La Belle. Ever since she was a child, all she did was sing. She loved it, and then others began to love it too. Before she knew it, her dreams led her onto stages standing behind microphones. The Songbird. That’s what they called her and her beautiful voice.

Aria sat in front of a mirror in the dressing room, preparing for her concert. It’s been concert after concert lately for her, everyone wanted to hear the Songbird sing and she wanted to make sure she looked just as beautiful as her voice. Her dark eyeliner and eyeshadow brought out her gray irises that were almost silver. As usual, she always wore crimson lipstick that matched well with her jet-black hair thrown to one side, even though her dress was crimson that was identical to her lipstick. 

“Knock, knock, Birdie.” Aria’s guitarist, Mandy, knocks on the door with a grin playing on her lips, the woman was excited like the rest of the band. “You’re on.”

Aria then returns a bright smile as she leaps to her feet and follows after Mandy. “Let’s do this!”

The big crowd talks amongst each other as they await the Songbird’s performance. Many people came here only to hear the Songbird sing, but two men came here regularly since it was a local venue for them. There was always someone singing here, someone new each time they came here. 

“Another round.” A man calls to the bartender while sliding his glass over the counter to him. He ran his fingers through his blonde hair, messing it up as if he were shaking his worries and problems out of his skull. 

“Third round already, Lucas? If you don’t slow down, I’ll have to drive you home again. And you’re not exactly fun to deal with when you’re drunk.” Lucas’s best friend, Mason, looks at him with a tired expression. After the stress of work, looking after the drunk CEO heir wasn’t exactly how he wanted to spend the rest of his day. But Lucas has always been there in times when he’s in need, so it’s only right he does the same.

And yet Lucas doesn’t respond, the man too annoyed with how his life has turned out. The roar of a crowd snaps him out of his burning thoughts but what makes him turn around is when he hears the voice of an angel. The Songbird. Her beauty was just as beautiful as her voice. 

His enchantment ends when he finally recognizes the woman. He knew her from high school and he shamefully recalls bullying her often. Aria La Belle. She was that classic nerd who always wore her black hair up in a messy bun, had big glasses, and was usually in overalls with earbuds in her ears. Lucas would often steal her earbuds, knock her books out of her hands, and call her names. And now here she is, on the stage, captivating everyone’s hearts, including his. After she was done singing, he was determined to speak with her. 

“I’ll be right back.” He tells Mason who’s surprised as he suddenly runs off. Lucas follows Aria’s trail until he finds her sitting outside on a bench, catching some fresh air while she can. But she immediately jumps to her feet the moment he approaches. Unlike Lucas, Aria recognized him instantly since he had bullied her for years. Startled by seeing him after a decade and wary of his actions, she’s hostile without hesitation.

“What do you want??”

Lucas winces from how aggressive she is with her first words after all these years. “I wanted to apologize.” He decides to be upfront like she is being. 

Aria’s hostility lifts into surprise when she looks up at the man. “Apologize?”

“I treated you awfully when we were teenagers and I wanted to apologize for it. I’ve matured-” Lucas hesitates then shakes his head. “No, there’s no excuse. I was just sadistic trash, and I regret my actions.” He then looks into her gray eyes. “Your singing was beautiful…” 

Aria’s surprise is followed by a bashful blush. The last thing she expected from one of her many concerts was to run into someone she has a bad past with and get an apology from him, let alone compliment her life passion. Aria can tell that Lucas is genuine and can see in his eyes that he truly regrets his actions back then. Aria has always been a kindhearted person, no matter who it is or what they did. And Lucas’s sincerity deserved it too.

“I forgive you.” 

Lucas is surprised by how easily the beautiful woman accepts his apology. He felt that he didn’t deserve it and that he should at least work for it. But before he could get a word of protest in, Aria walked past him back into the venue. 

That’s it?? Lucas quickly chases after her, not wanting their conversation to end just yet. “Wait up! You’re not going to tell me how you’ve been?”

“You didn’t ask.” Aria gives him a humored smile. “But if you must know…” As they walked back into the venue, her eyes rested on the crowd that was still calling for the Songbird and her smile brightened. “I’ve… It was great. I’ve strived for my dream and now I have it.” The woman then looks back up at him. “And you, heir? Are you the CEO now?”

Aria’s smile was just as breathtaking as she was and it left him a blushing mess when she looked at him confusedly over his silence. He clears his voice as if to play off his awkwardness. “No, not yet. To be honest, nothing interesting has been happening in my life.” He then peeks at her in the corner of his eye. It was the truth, until he stumbled across her, a flash from his shameful past. 

“Chin up. I’m sure something good will happen to you soon.” She smiles warmly up at him this time. The pretty woman’s sweet nature came naturally. 

Meanwhile, from afar, Aria’s band spots her with Lucas. Her guitarist, Mandy, was especially shocked. “Is that the Augustine Company CEO’s heir?!” 

The other two members, Chris and Noah, were surprised as well. “It looks like they’re already acquainted…” Noah says.

Chris grins. “A reunion. How about we make it more cherishable?” The other two expressed their mischief with a smirk or a snicker as they took to the stage again right before another singer could get on.

“What the hell?! I was supposed to sing after Aria!” The woman angrily snapped. Her hair was just as red as her temper. She was a singer that has always been second best to the Songbird and had always been jealous of it.

“Wait your turn, Roxanne. We still have important business to do.” Mandy sasses while popping her favorite blue bubblegum in her face. 

This infuriates the singer further but then she’s left confused when the band starts to blow a slow song. Roxanne’s jaw drops when she recognizes the famous CEO’s heir from the popular Augustine Company, a man that she always ogled. And now here he is, asking Aria for a dance and she accepts. Her blood boils as she watches the two slow dance, Aria’s eyes sparkled while Lucas was blushing red. Why do all the good things always happen to nobody from the sticks?!

Once the music had ended, Roxanne got herself a big drink from the bar and casually walked near Aria till she was close enough to spill her drink all over her dress. When you’re a singer, you pick up a knack for acting and that’s exactly what she did as she gives a dramatic gasp. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Aria! Are you alright?”

The stain would stay in Aria's dress forever, no doubt, but she still forced a smile. “It’s fine, Roxanne, it was just an accident.” 

Lucas wasn’t as much of a pushover however and he defensively wrapped his arm around Aria. “Bullshit. I saw you, you did that on purpose!” He yelled at her angrily, making everyone look their way and see what Roxanne did to Aria. Lucas then mutters his final words. “Get out of here.” 

“Mr. Augustine… I…” Roxanne looked as if she was on the verge of tears and ran off, disappearing into the crowd.

“C’mon.” Lucas then grabs Aria’s hand and pulls her outside to inspect her dress in private. He grimaces at the sight as he pulls out a handkerchief and attempts to wipe her dress dry.

Aria sees how uncomfortable he’s become and her eyebrows furrow confusedly. “Lucas?”

“You didn’t deserve that…” He unexpectedly mutters. “You didn’t deserve any of it…”

Aria is a bit taken aback since she couldn’t tell if he was talking about Roxanne or talking about what he did to her in the past. Most likely both, Aria placed a hand on his and just smiled again. “You apologized. That’s all that matters to me.”

“Hey, lovebird!” Mandy calls to her as she fixes to get into her car, she was Aria’s ride. “Time to skedaddle!”

Aria looks from Mandy to Lucas, his expression reflects her emotions. Neither wanted to leave just yet. So, Aria shyly spoke up first. “Um… I’ve got another concert here at 8 p.m. Maybe you can show up a few minutes early…?”

Lucas finally smiles. “I’d like that.” 

“Hurry up!” Mandy starts to complain.

“Coming! Coming!” Aria calls to Mandy while giving Lucas a wave of farewell and then leaving. 

Right afterward, Lucas drove off with Mason as well since he was on his ride too. During the drive, Lucas’s father, David, the CEO of the Augustine Company, called him to see where he ran off.

“Have you ever heard of the Songbird? Turns out we went to high school together, can you believe that? And she’s great! I’m heading back to the venue tomorrow night to see her again so don’t give me any late hours.” Lucas tells his father over the phone. Mason smiles widely when he hears this. Lucas was always a lady killer and heartbreaker. It was refreshing to see that his heart had been stolen.

David, however, gave an annoyed sigh. “Don’t get caught up in a “fleeting crush.” You have work to do and-” Before he could finish talking, Lucas hung up the phone.

“Dude! You got a death wish??” Mason was flabbergasted.

“Work is all he cares about. To hell with it. For once I’m happily looking forward to something.” Lucas mutters, determined to do things his way. Mason was concerned but he didn’t push it. Lucas was a stubborn man and would always do what he wanted.

And just like he said, after work, he drove to the music venue to see the Songbird once again. But before he even gets there, bright lights make his car swerve out of control and flip several times. The smell of gas and smoke in his eyes is the last thing he sees before everything goes black.