Rise To Stardom - Chapter 193

Chapter 193: Back To The Start
[Friday, 9th of April, 2021]

At a very popular record store, a dozen individuals had camped out the night before, just to be among the very first to lay their hands on a physical copy of Kyle’s album.

Yes, the young man was now that popular, enough that in this day and age where digital media was king, a bunch of his fans… and scumbag scalpers, decided getting a physical copy was paramount.

Besides, in their opinions, physical copies sounded so much better than their digital counterparts.

And it was actually true, because streaming sites, often condensed the music for easy accessibility, lesser bandwidth and faster streaming/downloads for their users.

As a result, in most cases, although a lot of the general public probably never realized it, instead of listening to music as the artist usually intended, they instead, got a placeholder that did the job.

But physical copies… it was always the best way to listen to the songs as the artists intended.

Added to that were all the extra collectibles that came with physical copies such as the album art, packaging, photo-cards, posters, lyric booklets and the likes, all of which added a tangible value for collectors.

And for Ron whom was one of such collectors and also knew of all the technicalities that made a physical album so much better to listen to, getting a physical copy was a no-brainer move for him.

His girlfriend of two years however who didn’t understand his need for a vinyl physical copy… now they’d had a small squabble the a few days before.

This was because, instead of staying the night over for a sleepover and the rest of the weekend to listen to the album together when it dropped at midnight as she had asked, Ron had stubbornly refused.

And from there, what should’ve been a small spat, ended up snowballing into a huge squabble with hurtful words thrown about and things they didn’t mean, escaping their lips in the heat of the moment.

Ron especially, had been really hurt by some of the things his girl said, one that made him wonder if they were even right for each other.

Sure they both loved each other terribly and they were teenage sweethearts heading to the same college very soon but even then, her words had really stung his pride.

Still, he wasn’t the least bit ready to start asking himself all those questions this morning as he shook his head and pushed his thoughts aside;

“Not now Ron.”

Zipping open his tent, the young man was briefly blinded by the early morning sun as he stepped out onto the busy Vancouver street…

“Lovely…” he mumbled as his eyes finally adjusted to and settled on the early morning sun’s cascading golden rays.

It reminded him of his girlfriend’s golden blonde hair for a brief moment but once again, Ron killed the thought.

He really didn’t want to be reminded of their squabble.

Also, he had bigger fish to fry at the moment––especially with the long ass line of varied colored tents behind him that stretched on for roughly almost fifty meters.

No sooner had he seen this, Ron swiveled his head forward to ensure that no one took his spot which was a few centimeters, right before the record store’s door.

Considering he had been the first to arrive yesterday, at exactly 5:30pm nonetheless, he was absolutely ready to throw hands if he found anyone cheating him of his well-earned spot.

And just like him, most of the fans and scalpers in line, soon began to pop-out of their tents, ensuring their spots were secured.

A bunch of passers-by and pedestrians whom were already going about their day, occasionally glanced over in their direction and simply shook their heads in resignation, unable to understand why they’d be stressing themselves this much, just to get the copy of an album.

Still, for the campers, they couldn’t care less.

It was 7:50am in the morning and the store, opened at exactly 8:00am.

And so, quickly packing up their tents, each individual impatiently waited for the store to open.

“Hey!”

“Don’t you dare try it!”

“I’m ready to throw hands lady! Schrodinger’s feminism be damned, I’ll sock you, right in the goddamn face!”

The store had only requested for about 250 copies of Kyle’s album, so the competition was already fierce before they even got in as some late campers and new arrivers, shamelessly tried to cheat their way forward.

As for the record store employees whom were already in, they were currently prepping and doing some general cleaning up and arrangements before they finally, opened up the store for business.

And no sooner had they flipped over the open tag, instantly and with immediate alacrity, Ron zoomed in, leaving the chaos behind him to the security guards whom were already doing their job.

In about a few minutes, he was out with one of the only fifty Vinyl Physical Albums the store was stocked up with and another, which was in a CD case.

Heaving a sigh of contentment, Ron muttered as he stared at the album art of the vinyl casing;

“Beautiful… just like a kaleidoscope of colors…”

The art in question featured Kyle, submerged in a beautifully-rendered, iridescent, shallow pool of water with a light smile as a small, similarly iridescent-winged butterfly with perched on his slightly outstretched finger.

The same was also on the casing of the CD copy he bought, albeit, obviously much smaller and less admirable in comparison to that of the vinyl’s casing where its artwork really shined.

About thirty minutes later though, Ron was already back home, greeting his parents whom were currently arguing over something mundane like the old married couple they were.

“Pops. Sweet Mother. Morning. What’s the stitch this time?”

“Hello son. Quite the haul you got there. Oh and also, your mum said she does the dishes more than I do. Can you believe it?” his father, sipped on a cup of hot latte with a slightly arched eyebrow in his wife’s direction.

“I do! And darling! Welcome back. I thought you were staying at Rosie’s for the weekend though?”

“Things got heated for a while so…” Ron trailed off in response to his mom’s question, signifying he didn’t want to delve into the details.

Effortlessly trying to divert the question, Ron chose to mess with his mom who was a professional chef by siding with his Dad.

“Oh and yeah. Pops does the dishes more.”

“See. That’s two against one, buttercup.” Ron’s father smugly smirked in his wife’s direction.

“Ron Harvey Williams!” the betrayed mother called out to her son in disbelief but he had already scurried upstairs while chuckling like the imp he was.

Upon reaching his room though, still hearing his parents exchanging banters downstairs, Ron chuckled a bit more, read through the list of tracks and then, carefully removed the vinyl record.

“[Back to The Start]…” he quietly muttered the name of the album’s lead single as he slowly headed over to his turntable and then, gently set the record in place on the phonograph.

And no sooner had he done that, a shimmering, melancholic yet uplifting, slightly reverb-heavy guitar riff that had a wistful undertone, cascaded over the entire room.

🎸 🎵 🎶

Instantly, Ron felt a similarly strong wave of wistfulness, wash over him as the other instrumentals, came into the song, alongside Kyle’s tender and emotive vocals;

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

Hey there again…

Hey there again, my dear,

Been thinking of you all day,

Realized I miss you…

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

It was only the first half of the opening verse and yet, a singular lady, flashed in Ron’s mind as the song continued;

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

I saw the sun,

It reminded me of… you,

Of your golden glow,

And how lovely you are…

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

This time, the young man couldn’t help but feel like cursing his favorite artist;

‘Darn you Kyle…’ he inwardly commented with a bittersweet smile as the song moved on to the last half of the opening verse;

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

So let’s catch our… breaths,

And find a quiet place,

Maybe talk for a while…

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

No sooner had the first verse ended, the instrumentals of the song swelled for a more uplifting vibe as Kyle’s voice soared a bit;

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

So here we go…

Here we go again…

Back to the start…

Back to the very start…

And then I asked…

You know I asked you then,

Care for another date?

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

Instantly, Ron got off his bed!

Without even listening to the rest of the song, he grabbed the other CD he bought, ran down the stairs and dashed out the door, much to the surprise of his parents whom had been entranced by the tune of the song and its vocals.

*

Rosie was watching the music video for [Back to The Start], tears already welling up in her eyes.

The video had started off in reverse with the backdrop of the overcast, snowy weather, the camera slowly panning over to the snowy deserted beach as Kyle, came into frame while slowly walking backwards.

As of the moment, Rosie stared with tears in her eyes as Kyle sung the first half of the second verse to the already emotionally atmospheric and heartfelt song.

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

Tell me a tale…

Tell me a tale, or two,

The ones that make me smile,

The ones that we miss…

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

Rosie was a pretty emotional lady but the intimate feel of the music video, wasn’t helping her case one bit.

The fact that Kyle’s warm yet melancholic smiles were aimed directly at the camera while singing, made her feel as if the song had been written solely for people like her.

As a result, another round of fresh tears rolled down the pretty lady’s eyes as she kept watching;

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

And then we laughed,

Oh yes we laughed so… hard,

At all the little things,

The little things mean the world.

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

This time, Rosie laughed nostalgically in between her small sobs when she was reminded of all the fun things she and Ron had been up to since they had started dating.

Once again, Kyle’s vocals soared, shifting in sync to the uplifting parts of the song;

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

So here we go…

Here we go again…

Back to the start…

Back to the very start…

And then I asked…

You know I asked you then,

Be my better half?

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

Evidently his signature style of composing, the second chorus, had Rosie’s sad mood uplifted quite a bit.

Imagining Ron asking her to marry him would literally give her wings… but the lady was certain she might have overdone it this time.

In fact, she had been overthinking all morning that they’d never get back together again.

However, as if to respond to her internal thoughts, Kyle’s tender vocals, soared even higher for the bridge alongside the instrumentals;

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

You know…

It’d be a shame to part…

It’d be a shame to part…

It’d be a shame to…

And we’d let go of this spark…

And we’d let go of this spark…

And we’d let go…

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

Once again, another round of fresh tears streamed down Rosie’s face as Kyle, whom had been walking backwards from the beginning of the video, finally reached his destination.

A bench by the beach side where a young lady, dressed in winter wears, sat with a lovingly warm and expectant smile.

This time, Kyle turned around to face her, softly singing the outro of the song with a similarly loving smile, nestling on his lips;

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

So now we’re back,

Back to the very… start,

Oh it’s been really… hard.

🎸 🎵 🥁 🎶 🎸

And upon sitting on the bench, Christina, gently leaned on his shoulder, the camera, slowly panning out to the blue skies which were no longer overcast.

Now, even with the falling snow, it was clearer and so much brighter, symbolizing hope and warmth, much like the uplifting note the song had ended on.

Like that, the music video came to an end.

As Rosie sniffled with a similarly warm smile on her lips, she soon heard the doorbell to her house ring.

Mopping up her damp eyes with the sleeve of her clothes, the lady slowly headed downstairs.

Her parents and siblings had gone out grocery shopping but she, whom had been feeling the blues, rejected their offer to cheer her up.

However, upon opening the door, Rosie was met with a tiredly panting Ron who extended the CD case of Kyle’s album to her.

“I’m sor-”

Before he could even complete the sentence, the lady lunged into his arms with the tightest of hugs, her head buried in his chest.

“Took you long enough, you idiot.” her muffled, sobbing voice, full of happiness, cascaded over to his ears.

To that, Ron smiled warmly and then kissed his girlfriend on the head while responding with and warm hug of his own;

“I missed you, Rosie.”

“I missed you more.” Rosie responded with an even tighter squeeze.

*

___________________________

{Back To The Start} – (99%)

Weaved into life by Kyle Kestis, this wistfully uplifting, atmospheric rock song, captures the essence of love, devotion, admiration and companionship for a loved one with its poetic lyrics and atmospheric instrumentation.

___________________________

*

Just as Ron and Rosie had mended their relationship, obviously in thanks to [Back to The Start], a group of four teenage sisters whom were just down the street, having watched the music video of the song, had a completely different reaction to it.

They literally got a close-up of Kyle’s handsome face for more than three minutes!

Now they understood why the music video, asides from having such a simple yet intimate feel for a beautifully and lyrically well-written song, was quickly racking up the most views on ViewTube amongst the three music videos!

Currently, it had already hit over 70M views in just under two hours and at the rate it was going, it was clearly going to crack half a billion by the end of the month, if not more.

It was even trending at #1 on the platform’s Music & Entertainment section.

That said…

“Ladies… I need me a glass of water…” Julia, the oldest by a few seconds fanned herself while her other sisters, Juliette, Jade and Janet, gulped in agreement.

The thirst in the room was even getting palpable at this point but one of the teenage ladies in the room whom was more technical, soon hijacked herself from her girl thoughts and then questioned curiously;

“Wait a minute? If the video is in reverse, why exactly does Kyle’s lips, sync perfectly with the lyrics?” Janet, the youngest of them by a minute, questioned with a confused tilt of her head.

In response to that question, the confusion in the room became noticeably palpable for the quadruplets.

However, the other girls soon brushed the thoughts aside, all of them quickly clamoring to watch the next music video which was trending at #2 in the Music & Entertainment category of the platform.

It, was the music video for [Electrified].