[Scene: Inside a rented rehearsal studio – exposed brick, cheap amps, soundproof walls covered in posters. Four boys are lounging, instruments in hand.]
Zayn (Band Member)
(checking mic)
Bro, you're late again.
Aryan
(dropping guitar case)
Blame the rain. And caffeine.
Maya needed a proper chai intervention.
Rico (Drummer, blonde-tipped hair)
(smirking)
Maya, huh? That lit-student muse of yours?
Dev (Keyboardist, Indian-American, oldest in group)
Focus, loverboy. The audition for Battle of Indie Sounds is in two weeks.
Either we show up tight, or we don't show up at all.
Narration – Aryan's Thought
"The Phoenix Sons." That's our band name.
Zayn, Rico, Dev, and me — Arjun Roy to them.
They don't know I'm Aryan Malik, heir to the Malik empire.
They just know I write lyrics that hit too deep.
Music was never meant to be more than a mask.
But now… it's the only thing that feels like me.
[Flashback – 13 Years Ago]
Scene: A dim library in Delhi. 12-year-old Aryan sits at a desk, scribbling rhymes in Hindi-English hybrid. His uncle Rehaan watches proudly.
Uncle Rehaan
"Poetry is the soul's confession in disguise, Aryan."
"A real man bleeds on paper, not with bullets."
Young Aryan
But Dad says feelings make you weak.
Rehaan
(placing hand on his head)
No. They make you dangerous in the best way.
Promise me, you'll never stop writing.
Young Aryan
I promise.
Narration – Present Aryan
I broke that promise the day he died.
The day my world went from music to blood.
But with Maya…
I think I hear his voice again.
Zayn
(breaking his thought)
Earth to Romeo. Are we playing "Glass Skies" or what?
Aryan
Let's run it from verse two.(He positions the mic, closes his eyes, and lets the music carry him.)
🎶 Aryan (singing):
"You held me like silence,
In a room too loud to stay.
And I left behind the thunder,
Just to hear you breathe my name…" 🎶
(His voice is low, husky, aching.)
Dev
(blinking after the last note)
Damn.
You don't sing like a guy who writes for girls.
You sing like you lost one.
Aryan
(half-grinning)
Maybe I did. In a past life.
Narration – Aryan's Thought
Singing is dangerous.
It's too honest.
Every time I hit a note, I feel more like Aryan, less like Arjun.
And Aryan… isn't allowed to feel anything for Maya Sharma.
[Scene shifts – later, Aryan and Maya walk together after band practice.]
Maya
You're really good. Like… really good.
Not just "cute guy with guitar" good.
Aryan
Blushes slightly
Don't say that too loud. I've got a reputation to maintain.
Maya
I'm serious.
Your voice sounds like it's been broken before it ever grew wings.
Aryan
(half-joking)
Maybe it was.
(Pause)My uncle used to write poetry. I guess I picked it up from him.
Maya
What happened to him?
Aryan
(silent for a beat)
He… died.
In a way that never left me.
(They walk in silence for a few seconds. The wind picks up slightly. She shivers.)
Aryan
You cold?
Maya
Just a little wind. I'm okay.(She says it too fast. He notices her fingers tremble slightly before she hides them in her sleeves.)
Narration – Aryan's Thought
That wasn't just cold.
Her body language changes every time she gets dizzy.
Something's off.
She's hiding something.
And that scares me more than the lie I'm living.
Aryan
You're not okay, are you?
Maya
(forces a laugh)
If I said "I'm fine," would you let it go?
Aryan
No.
Because "I'm fine" is the language of people who are hurting quietly.
(She stops walking and faces him.)
Maya
Can we just… pretend for a while?
That I'm not fragile. That I'm not waiting for time to decide what to do with me.
That I'm just a girl writing music with a boy who sings like the world never hurt him.
(Aryan stares at her—caught between reality and a growing ache.)
Aryan
Fine.
Then let's pretend.
For now.
I'll be the boy who sings like love is real.
You be the girl who believes it might be.
Maya
(softly, smiling)
Deal.[They continue walking under a streetlight. She hums part of their unfinished chorus. He joins in. Their voices blend perfectly.]
🎶
"We never meant forever… But we wrote it anyway…"🎶
Narration – Aryan's Thought
I came here to destroy her.
To make her fall.
But tonight… I just wanted to catch her.
And maybe, just for one verse—
I did.