A sleek limousine glides down the road.
Cora sits in the back with her phone in her hand.
She scrolls through the comments section with a grin on her face.
Every comment is overwhelmingly positive:
“I can’t wait for your next album!”
“Next time you go on tour, please come to San Diego!”
“Can someone please get this girl a Grammy?”
Cora puts a like on that last comment…
At the top is a photo of her holding a guitar.
There are hundreds of thousands of likes.
Her eye catches on something outside the car window.
Cora
You just passed the studio.
Cora looks at the black glass partition separating her from the driver up front.
Cora
You passed the recording studio.
At that moment, the speakers in the car crackle on…
And a disembodied voice fills the car.
Unknown
Give me your phone.
The partition up front lowers by half an inch…
Just enough to fit a phone through.
Unknown
I’m not playing games.
Cora
What are you talking about?
Cora
I need to get to the studio.
Cora
Maybe you haven’t heard of me, but my fans…
Suddenly, the engine revs and the limo takes off.
Cora is thrown back against her seat.
Unknown
I know exactly who you are, Cora.
Unknown
That’s the problem.
The car continues to gain speed.
The world zips by outside Cora’s window.
Unknown
Now give me your phone…
Unknown
Or I’ll drive this car right off the road.
Unknown
How would your fans feel about that?
Cora
What are you talking about?
Unknown
I won’t ask again!
The car engine roars as it accelerates even more.
Cora
A picture with me or something?
The car jerks to the right and knocks Cora over.
Cora
This isn’t funny, okay!?
Cora grips her leather seat tight.
Cora tries to peer through the tiny opening up front…
But it’s too small to make anything out.
Cora
You’re gonna get fired for this!
Cora
You know that, right?
The car jerks to the left and Cora knocks against the door.
The engine absolutely screams.
Cora looks down at her phone.
Her most recent post is still racking up thousands of likes per second.
She squeezes her phone, grits her teeth, and finally gives in.
She crawls up to the front and slips her phone through the opening.
The partition immediately closes.
Unknown
I’m glad to see that you still have some sense.
Cora scrunches up her face.
There’s something oddly personal about that comment.
She puts her hand on the glass.
The voice coming through the speakers lets out a laugh.
At first, it starts small.
The maniacal cackling echoes through the limo.
Nervous, Cora sits back in her seat.
Unknown
You don’t recognize my voice, Cora?
Cora’s mind scrambles for an answer, but nothing comes to her.
Unknown
It *has* been a while, hasn’t it?
Unknown
Maybe I’d sound more familiar if I was singing…
The only thing she’s sure of is the fear she feels right now.
Unknown
Singing one of the songs from my notebook…
She slowly leans forward to the partition…
Her eyes filled with terror.
The voice on the speaker chuckles.
Dean
I guess you remember after all.
Dean pulls the limo off the highway…
And turns onto a gravelly road.
Dean
Speaking of memories…
Dean
I’ve got a few I need to hash out with you.
They pass one empty warehouse after another.
Dean
Like you telling me that you loved me.
Dean
And us planning our future together.
Dean
Do you remember that?
Dean
How about all the songs I wrote for us?
Dean
You know, the ones on your last album?
Dean
The songs you told the world that you wrote.
Dean
The songs that made you famous.
Cora
Dean, where are you taking me?
Cora
I can explain everything.
Dean
That you left me in the middle of the night…
Dean
And took my songbook with you?
Dean
That you disappeared?
Dean
Dropped off the face of the earth for a year…
Dean
And then re-emerged with a hit record that I wrote?!
Tears stream down Cora’s face.
Cora
I didn’t mean to hurt you, Dean.
Dean
It’s clear that you didn’t think of me at all!
Dean
You knew I couldn’t prove those songs were mine…
Dean
Because you stole my only copies.
Dean
And look at you now.
Cora
Just please stop this car.
Cora
I’ll give you whatever you want.
Suddenly, the limo screeches to a halt.
Cora reaches for the door handle…
She tries to unlock it, but it won’t budge.
Dean
What are you sorry for?
Cora’s so freaked out that she can barely comprehend Dean.
Dean
What are you sorry for, Cora?
Cora’s breathing grows heavier and heavier.
Finally, Cora breaks down.
Cora
I stole all your songs and passed them off as my own.
Cora
I had no idea that people would love them so much.
Cora
But it made them love me, too…
Cora
And I couldn’t give that up.
Cora fights for air between words.
Cora
I think about it every second of every day!
Cora
I lied to you so I could steal your music.
Cora
And now I lie to my fans so they’ll like me.
Suddenly, Cora hears the driver's door open.
Footsteps crunch against the gravel outside.
A moment later, she hears a distant car engine start.
Then the limo door unlocks.
She hears a car driving away down the rocky road.
Cora opens the door and steps out of the limo.
The beaming sun nearly blinds her.
But she notices that the driver's door of the limo has been left open.
She races to the front seat.
But Dean is nowhere to be found.
The car is empty except for one thing:
And the screen is lighting up with activity like before.
She lifts it off the seat to inspect it.
Comments are flooding in:
“I thought she was different. So disappointed.”
“The whole album was a lie!?”
Cora’s chest tightens as she scrolls through the onslaught of comments.
Finally, she reaches the top and sees what they’re commenting on.
It’s her confession, filmed through the one-way glass of the partition.
She taps the screen and her voice comes through the tiny speaker.
“I think about it every second of every day!”
“I lied to you so I could steal your music.”
“And now I lie to my fans so they’ll like me.”
Her world swirls in on itself.
She drops the phone onto the gravel.
And the comments just keep coming.
