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and soul into, only to find out that everyone hated it. Well, not everyone. Chase liked it, at least. “What’s your biggest hit?”
    “ Highway of Heartbreak ,” Chase said. “Our first single. The one that made our debut album go platinum.”
    “I think I’ve heard that one.”
    “Probably. It’s almost as overplayed as Nickelback.”
    Kenzie arched a brow. “You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.” She didn’t get it. She’d love to have a big hit, even if it was criticized as being overplayed.
    “Not bad.” Chase shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful for the support. That song put us on the map and made us a lot of money. I’m proud of the success. It’s just not the song that means the most to me.”
    “So you didn’t write it yourself?”
    “I did write it,” Chase said. “Well, me and my band mate, Jordy, did. Like I said, I don’t have any issues with the song. If it were up to me, though, it wouldn’t have been the first single we released.”
    “Which one would have been?” she asked. “Which song is your favorite?”
    “It’s called Blue Skies and Melancholy. We never even released it as a single, so if people don’t have the album, they haven’t heard it,” Chase said. “But it’s my favorite.”
    “So play me that one,” Kenzie urged. She knew she’d never heard it before.
    “If you insist.” Chase set his phone into the sound dock and tapped at the screen until he found the song.
     
    Blue skies.
    Sun is shining.
    All around me, people laughing.
    I want to join them, yet I can’t.
    I try to laugh, and it comes out choked.
    I try to smile, and it’s always forced.
    It seems melancholy has a hold on me.
    No one ever understands. They ask what’s wrong.
    Why can’t they see?
    Melancholy has a hold on me.
    Blue skies all around me, but all I know is gray.
    I wish I could see what the rest of the world sees,
    But I can’t break free.
    No, melancholy has a hold on me.
     
    The cords and chorus repeated themselves a little too much for Kenzie’s taste, but she found it typical of that genre of music, and even if it was a little on the repetitive side, it was hard not to be emotionally impacted by the lyrics.
    “That’s very powerful,” she said. “And it seems heartfelt.”
    “I’m glad that comes through.” Chase jammed his hands in his pockets and cast his eyes to the floor. “I wrote it about a kid I went to high school with who struggled with depression. I hardly knew the guy. He was a jock, a big man on campus, and I was a skinny, geeky kid who played in the orchestra. This guy, he had everything, or so we thought... until he shot himself in the head during junior year with his dad’s police-issued firearm.”
    “I... wow. I’m sorry.” Kenzie didn’t know what else to say.
    “Like I said, I barely knew him. We didn’t travel in the same circles. When I learned he’d killed himself, I found myself thinking ‘why’? What a waste. He had so much promise.” Chase’s voice was soft. “And also, apparently, a lot of pain.” He looked up with damp eyes. “Anyway, I wrote that song with him in mind, trying to put my myself in the head of someone who, at least on the outside, was happy and had everything, but on the inside struggled with a darkness few people knew about.”
    “Does his family know about it?”
    Chase shook his head. “No, and there’s no reason they should. We weren’t friends, and it was a long time ago. It’s just something that happened that inspired me to write a song. Music is personal to me.”
    “It is to me, too,” Kenzie said softly. “I want my music to speak from the heart.”
    “Good.” Chase nodded. “That’s what I needed to know,” he said. “So what do you think? Do you want to do this duet?”
    Kenzie didn’t hesitate, but she tried not to sound desperate at the same time. “Yes, I do. But only if it’s something you really want.” She didn’t want him to feel pressured.
    “I