On a cloudy afternoon, 16-year-old Tom was failing at his attempt to write a new song. He sat at his desk, staring hard at the lined page of his notebook as he tapped his pen on the edge of the table. The heavy clouds rolling in from the sky outside his window darkened his room, save for the dim glow of his desk lamp. He had been hoping that something would flow through his pen by now--a verse, a phrase, or even a word--but the lines on the page remained empty after an hour had gone by.

When Tom ran his fingers through his short, blonde hair, he felt a tiny surge of inspiration spark in his mind. He quickly brought the tip of his pen to the top line of the page, eager to let the words flow, only to be stopped by the ringtone of his cellphone.

His eyes shifted towards the phone, then back to the page. He figured he would be able to answer it later. The tone was a customized melody that he found himself humming on the way home from school one day, and he set tones like the one that rang now to his close friends from school, as well as his family - people who normally called him to pester him. Had the phone sounded off to “Pinball Wizard,” a song set for when his music manager called, he would have answered right away.

The phone fell silent. With a sigh, Tom set down his pen and leaned back against his chair. He looked to his phone which now showed a missed call on its screen, with guilt now looming over his head. Instead of agonizing over empty words, he could have answered the call, which might have been from one of his best friends, like James Bourne, or perhaps, Lia Thompson...

Lia. The last time Tom saw her was over a month ago, but to him, it felt like ages. He fell busy in working on his budding music career, while she spent most of her time dealing with helping her mom after her parents filed a divorce. It was on Lia and her boyfriend’s 6-month anniversary when Tom last saw her, and it gave him a peace of mind to see her happy and in a good place. At least, that’s what it seemed like.

The phone rang again. This time, Tom paid attention to the name flashing on the screen, and it brought a smile to his face.

“Well, whaddya know,” he said aloud, answering the phone with a click and putting the phone against his ear. "Lia, my darling! What's the matter? Can't even strike up a chat with your best mate...?"

Tom expected to hear a hearty laugh that could fill the room with joy. Instead, he was greeted with choking sobs on the other end. His smile quickly faded.
"Lia..?"