Chapter 5

After entering the detached building with Taylor, Ryan was greeted by a wall covered in album covers.

At first glance, he spotted plenty of famous artists: John Mayer, Dolly Parton, Beck, Rush Band, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, King Leon, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, and Blake Shelton. And that was only a small section of the wall.

"Blackbird has nine studios, each with its own distinct features and functions." Taylor seemed to be in a good mood. Like a tour guide, she took the initiative to show Ryan around.

Ryan really did feel as though he were touring a landmark. When they passed Studio C, he saw the room's walls covered in densely packed, long wooden slats. Taylor said there were a full 130,000 of them in the room, and every one was a different length.

"I heard it was designed using an acoustic diffusion algorithm. Basically, it was meant to create a better environment for immersive mixing and playback." Taylor only knew a little about it herself.

Studio A, the largest of them all, housed the Neve 8078 console originally custom-built for Motown Los Angeles. Studio B had a series of "collector-grade" microphones.

"Here we are. The person you're looking for is in here." Taylor pushed open the heavy door to Studio D.

As soon as Ryan followed her inside, he spotted the ridiculously massive 96-channel API Legacy mixing console, the largest in North America. He couldn't name most of the other equipment.

Apart from Taylor, there were only three staff members in the studio. Taylor walked over and exchanged a few words with a red-haired, balding man, then came back.

"You'll probably have to wait a bit. I need to rerecord one section." Taylor pointed behind Ryan. "The Private Lounge is right over there."

"Maybe I can sit in the back." Ryan wasn't interested in the lounge. He wanted to see how a recording session worked.

But Taylor turned him down. "I've already made an exception by bringing you in here. For the sake of keeping the new song under wraps, you can't listen in."

Ryan had no choice but to enter the Private Lounge. The walls were covered in velvet, and the floor was made of dark walnut. Professionals had carefully adjusted the angle and brightness of the lamps, creating a relaxing, comfortable atmosphere. A girl sat on the vintage brown leather sofa, looking down at her phone. When she heard Ryan come in, she looked up.

They introduced themselves. The girl was a little shorter than Taylor, with long, curly hair in a deeper copper-red shade. Her name was Abigail, and she was Taylor's friend.

"You only met Taylor yesterday, and you're already here keeping her company while she records? Wow, you two got close pretty fast." Abigail looked as if she'd just discovered something astonishing.

"I wanted to bring a demo of a song to her producer," Ryan explained.

They made small talk, and Ryan discovered that Abigail not only knew Trey, but had also appeared in Taylor's previous music video. Her name was even in the song Taylor was recording today.

"Taylor said this was a day worth remembering, so I had to come." Abigail shrugged. Then she told him how they'd met. After Taylor transferred from Pennsylvania to a high school in Nashville, she and Abigail became deskmates. They quickly became close friends who could talk about anything.

Their friendship had lasted to this day, and Taylor had drawn inspiration from it for her songwriting.

"That's just how she is. She puts everything, big and small, into her songs. That's her way of writing," Abigail said.

Ryan could relate to that now.

Then she asked him, "So, what inspires your songwriting?"

"What?"

"The song you made."

"Uh... an ambulance."

She clearly didn't understand. Just then, the door to the lounge opened.

Taylor practically bounced over to Abigail, excitement written all over her face. She looked every bit the teenage girl, completely unlike the Taylor Ryan had seen yesterday afternoon.

But when she noticed Ryan, her expression instantly darkened. She shot him a fierce glare. She really held a grudge.

"You should hear this new version." Taylor turned to Abigail. This time, Ryan was lucky enough to listen in, too.

Ryan left the lounge with the two of them. The same three staff members were still in the studio: producer Nathan Chapman, the recording engineer, and an assistant who was adjusting the equipment.

At Taylor's signal, the bespectacled assistant started playing a section of the song.

"You take a deep breath and walk into the school,

It's the first day of school.

You say hi to your friends you haven't seen in a while,

Trying not to get in anyone's way."

"When you're fifteen, someone tells you they love you,

You're gonna believe them,

When you're fifteen,

You think there's nothing you need to question."

"You sit beside Abigail, with her red hair,

And before long, you become best friends,

Laughing together at the girls

Who think they're so cool."

"That first kiss at fifteen

Leaves you reeling,

But there are better things in life

Than dating the boy on the football team,

Though I didn't know it when I was fifteen..."

"Looking back,

I swore I'd marry him someday,

But I realized I had bigger dreams,

Abigail gave everything she had

To the boy who changed his mind,

And we both cried..."

After the series of clips finished playing, Abigail, whose life had become the subject of the song, seemed moved. She hugged Taylor tightly, while producer Nathan Chapman offered some encouragement.

"The song is full of sincere emotion. It captures the mindset of a teenage girl, at least. But the melody could use some work. Some parts might need to be revised."

"What's the song called?" Abigail couldn't help asking.

"'Fifteen,'" Taylor replied.

Taylor had been a little older than fifteen when she wrote the song, judging by the timeline, but she was perceptive and had received professional guidance. After moving to Nashville, she met with songwriter Liz Rose for two-hour writing sessions every Tuesday afternoon. The two of them co-wrote seven songs on Taylor's debut album.

Even Ryan had to admit that, setting aside her fickle nature, the lyrics were written straight for a teenage girl's heart.

But the problem was, instead of exposing an ex-boyfriend this time, she was exposing her friend. Was that really okay?

Thinking about it, he shook his head without meaning to, and Taylor noticed.

"You think this song is bad? Not as good as the one you wrote?" Taylor's tone was hostile.

"Of course not. After listening to your song, I finally understand why I got eliminated. Compared with 'Fifteen,' my 'Fire and Rain' was way too hollow and monotonous. And I can really feel how much you care about your friend—you even put her first experience in a song so fans all over the world can remember it. That's truly a great friendship." Ryan smiled.

But Taylor had thick skin. She simply said, "Thanks for caring, but Abigail already agreed, right, sweetheart?"

Under Taylor's expectant gaze, Abigail seemed about to say something, but in the end she could only nod awkwardly.

"She just doesn't want to hurt your feelings. Can't you tell?" Ryan said.

"Do you even know her? What gives you the right to make decisions for her?" Taylor shot back at once.

The two began bickering. Abigail looked at the young man standing up for her and felt a brief stir of emotion. The next second, she spoke up. "Um... I'm fine with the lyrics. I can accept it."

Since the person involved had said so, Ryan had nothing more to say. He took out his USB drive.

"By the way, there might be another song here that's just as good as 'Fifteen.'" Taylor, victorious, chuckled. Of course she wasn't going to miss a chance to mock Ryan.

"So you're the football team boy from that song?" The recording assistant noticed Ryan's build and teased him as he took the USB drive.

When the demo started playing, the first thing that came through wasn't a catchy melody, but a continuous low-frequency sound wave.

The recording assistant briefly thought there was something wrong with the speakers. In reality, Ryan had simply been unfamiliar with the controls and had left a segment of an instrument track in the mix.

It wasn't until ten seconds later that the song reached the intro.

By then, the producer, the recording engineer, and Taylor were all busy packing up. The day's recording session was over.

The music continued, moving into the bridge. It built briefly, leading up to the song's most important moment: the chorus!

At that point, producer Nathan finally reacted—but only to tell the assistant to turn the volume down. The other recording engineer and Taylor didn't even look up.

The short demo finally ended.

"Where were the vocals? All I heard was an overly heavy drumbeat. It can't be my ears, right? You didn't forget to record them, did you, Nashville Star finalist?" Taylor looked smug. That wasn't a compliment—there were only twelve contestants on Nashville Star.

"I think it was pretty good. At least it had a nice beat. It made me want to bob my head." Abigail smiled at Ryan, then encouraged him. "It's impressive to get this far on your first try at producing."

"What? It was so noisy," Taylor muttered.

"It's still a work in progress, but I can already hear the lead melody. It's clearly an electronic music track, and it sounds great! I agree with Abigail. Getting this far on your first attempt is impressive. You could absolutely try to become a professional DJ!" Producer Nathan Chapman smiled.

This wasn't flattery. Nathan had no reason to flatter Ryan; he meant every word.

Taylor's eyebrows immediately turned upside down. Hearing other people praise Ryan bothered her even more than hearing them insult her.

And of all people, it was her own producer. He hadn't praised her song like that just now!

"It's not that good. It doesn't compare to Taylor's song. I just got the idea last night on a whim." Ryan smiled sheepishly, finding yet another way to praise himself.

The others didn't know the truth, but Taylor knew Ryan hadn't been exaggerating. Her face grew a little hot. For the first time, her proud heart wavered. She hadn't felt that way in a long time.