His Voice in my Headphones

e song looped, its melody tugging at something buried in her chest-a memory she couldn't quite grasp, like a dream slipping

one seemed to hum with a life of its own. "Ezra, this isn't funny," she said, her voice low, barely audible over the music. She tugged the headphones down, letting them hang around h

else, something unfamiliar-excitement, maybe, or defiance. She'd spent her whole life following rules: her parents' curf

ebox, its screen flickering with static. The song's lyrics were garbled, but she caught a phrase-"for my Muse"-sung in a voice that sounded too much like Ezra's. Her fingers brushed the jukebox's buttons, cold and sticky, and the screen flashed again: Mina. Her na

t, laced with worry. "It's past eleven. Y

opped, but the screen still glowed faintly, like it was watching

only told Theo about Heart Lock in passing, a half-joke about a "weird music app that kept crashing her phone". She hadn't mentioned Ezra. "What do you know about it?" she asked, her voice quieter now. "Nothing, just... you said it was messing w

he mist insane of times. But tonight, his concern felt like another leash. "Mina, please," he said, softer now. "I'm serious. You're not yourself. Whatever's going on, you can tell me." Before she could answer, the headphones around her neck crackled, Ezra's voice cutting through,

tten memory of summer nights and whispered promises. "Mina, stay there," Theo said, his voice firm. "I'm coming to get you." "No, don't-" she started, but he'd already hung up. Her phone screen lit up with another Heart Lock notification: I know you better than he does, Muse. What the hell. The jukebox's screen flickered, and for a split second, she swore it showed her

beat. The night air was colder now, slicing through her hoodie, but Ezra's voice lingered in her headphones, warm and teasing, like a secret she wasn't sure she wanted to keep. "You danced for me, Muse," he'd said before she yanked the