tw: uncensored mentions of grooming, underage drinking, unhealthy relationship, longer post than i intended
[name_f]Alice[/name_f] [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] [name_u]Bryant[/name_u] [22] is a current student at the music program that [name_u]Finn[/name_u] is applying to. Though she has a baby face and is often thought to be a teen, and being rather young in reality too, sheās lived quite a bit of life in her twenty-two years. [name_m]Born[/name_m] as the middle of five kids, the only singleton between two sets of twins, sheās always felt a little bit like the odd one out, the only person in her family without a matching other half. [name_m]Even[/name_m] her parents had each other!
She turned to music at a young age to cope, starting with piano and moving into violin, then guitar, bass, [name_u]French[/name_u] horn, ukulele, trumpet, and a few other brass instruments. Sheās a jack of all trades in that sense and she soon moved from playing music on instruments to writing her own. Her first original song was written in eighth grade and called Extra Piece where she likened her experience of being the only non-partnered individual in her family to that moment when youāre putting together some flat pack furniture and you mysteriously have another piece left over that you donāt know what to do with. Looking back she thinks itās super cheesy but it still holds a special place in her heart now. She got a tattoo of a screw on her left shoulder blade to honor her younger self, though some have asked her if it represents her āhaving a screw looseā which she never really confirms or denies.
Her music career continued into her high school years, on a whim she uploaded her acoustic cover of Slide Away by [name_f]Miley[/name_f] [name_m]Cyrus[/name_m] when she was seventeen. Overnight it gained popularity and hit a few million views within the end of the week. Suddenly gaining all that attention was bizarre but she didnāt say she didnāt like it. It felt nice to be paid attention to. After a few months a producer reached out to her, offering to help her put together an EP. Without even asking her parents about the idea she said yes and was flying out to L.A. during her schoolās spring break.
It was overwhelming to be alone in such a huge city, but the producer, who was actually not much older than her (he had gotten into the music industry through his father who had been a producer himself), helped guide her around. They spent a lot of time in the studio going over the songs from Aliceās journal. They picked out what where the best ones and set to recording them. By the time she had to head back home the EP had yet to be finished, so her producer offered to pay to fly her out each weekend to complete it. Once more, on an impulse, she said yes.
Over the next few weeks they put the fine touches on the EP and it was ready to be released by the time summer rolled around. [name_f]Alice[/name_f] flew back out to L.A., now accompanied by her family this time, to the release party. Hype for the album had built considerably due to her internet popularity and the party was well attended. She ended up sticking around for a while after her family had returned to the hotel room. Now alone again she turned to her producer, they spent the rest of the party chatting in a secluded corner and sipping on cocktails. They grew very close that night and when the party was really starting to finally clear out, the music and the lights were starting to be turned back on. She impulsively kissed him before thanking him and leaving to go to her hotel.
The next morning she woke up to decent acclaim for her EP. It wasnāt a huge hit by any means but it had broken into the indie market and many moderately sized articles and outlets had given her positive reviews. To celebrate she called up her producer and met him for brunch. There they discussed the EP and ideas for a follow-up, as well as the kiss that had happened. Her producer insisted that it be dropped and couldnāt happen again, he may have been only four years older than her but she was still a minor and he was her producer. They agreed to chalk it up to a drunken mistake and keep their relationship professional.
In the months after the EP release she commuted back and forth from her hometown to L.A. again until she graduated and moved out to [name_u]California[/name_u] by herself. Her parents were hesitant about her being along but having met her producer they felt comfortable in his being able to protect her. [name_f]Alice[/name_f] managed to settle into living alone well, she never really felt alone though. Her producer was always over at her apartment or she was at his, or they were both at the studio working on a full album.
As the months passed the album started coming together, and [name_f]Alice[/name_f] and her producer continued to grow closer. On her eighteenth birthday he arrived at her place with a dozen roses and a bottle of champagne, a few more days later he asked her out on a real date. She asked him about what he had said earlier about ākeeping things professionalā and he said that she āwasnāt a kid anymoreā and could make her own decisions.
She decided to say yes.
The media picked up on their blossoming romance, some people were critical, and some where infatuated by their relationship. Her new publicist insisted that all press was good press and it would come in handy when her album finally dropped. [name_f]Alice[/name_f] herself didnāt really mind any of the critics of her relationship, to her it felt amazing to finally have someone who was all hers and felt the same about her. It felt like she finally belonged to somebody.
Their romance was finally overshadowed by her albumās release the following summer, though the album itself was soon overshadowed as well by something that happened at the release party. [name_f]Alice[/name_f] was proposed to by her boyfriend. Once more she said yes.
The news were swirling with talks about the couple, and therefore her album. It was so exciting to be on the cover of magazines and articles, finally breaking from the indie circuit. That winter they married in a beach ceremony with family followed by a honeymoon in [name_f]Bali[/name_f] and things finally settled down media-wise. No longer the talk of the town but now with her new husband at her side she didnāt care whoās attention she had, as long as she had his.
The next few years were largely the same cycle, work on music, attend parties, spend time with her husband, repeat. Making a second album was much more artistically draining, there was less inspiration in her life, she had grown comfortable. Too comfortable. Her husband, still working as her producer as well, would constantly push her to ātry harderā and ādo better.ā Sometimes his supposed encouragements ended up with [name_f]Alice[/name_f] running out of the studio in tears or with her throwing whatever was in her armās reach at his head. But when her husband would show up at their villa with dozens and dozens of roses, she would forgive him. This was another event frequent in their cycles, fight, cry and/or scream, make-up, rinse and repeat multiple times a month. [name_u]Or[/name_u] per week if it was awards season.
Last year she attended one of her sistersā wedding without her husband. He had ended up with a conflict in his schedule with another one of the artists he produced. The distance was somewhat welcome, giving them both time and space to breathe. While with her family who hadnāt been in very close proximity both emotionally or psychically, they started to comment on how she had changed. It was a sobering experience for her, learning that the stories she told about her husband were not exactly normal. It occurred to her that the two were just wrong for one another and brought out the worst in each other.
When she arrived home after the wedding, she shared a dinner with her husband, their last as a couple, and told him she wanted a divorce. He wanted to fight back, but realized that he had been dreaming of a separation as well and could not find the words to object. Two months later they signed the papers and made it official.
After her divorce [name_f]Alice[/name_f] spent a lot of time on her own, trying to learn how to be happy on her own again. She practiced a lot of self-care, put herself out of her comfort zone, and taught herself how to enjoy her own company. She went on āsolo datesā where she would go out to a clichĆ© date location like the beach, a fancy restaurant, dinner and dancing, by herself. Soon it became a regular fixture in her weekly plans. She also began often buying herself little things to cheer herself up, like flowers. After all these years she had finally learned that she didnāt need another half to be whole, she was whole all by herself.
She removed herself from the public eye for a while after that, while she hopes to keep making music someday as itās her passion (and she would hate to leave the fanbase sheās accumulated with nothing else) she wants to rejoin the music industry after sheās been able to live a little more ānormalā life and given herself more time to develop. Sheāll return when sheās ready. For now sheās enjoying being a student, now and then she stills gets recognized but itās no longer a huge ordeal like it used to be, now it feels more like meeting an old friend who has the same taste in music as you. Sheās still got a few years of school left but sheās in no rush, life is a ride that sheās more than happy to take nice and slow.
