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Track One: "This Can't Be It"

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PAGE NOTES

The Way She Listened - Page 2

Published June 12, 2026

Rhapsody Cadence Caprice

Author's Notes

I had a lot of fun drawing the characters as younger versions of themselves here! Fun fact: my original design for young Caprice gave her straight-cut bangs instead of the side part covering her eye as you can see here. It was so radically different that none of my friends who looked at the sketch for the page could actually tell that it was Caprice (they all thought it was some other character), so I decided to change it to something that is more analogous to her current hairstyle.

Originally completed on April 19th, 2023.

Show page transcript

[BEFORE PANEL 1]
At the top of the page, above the boxed-in panels, are floating heads of Caprice and Cadence, talking back and forth.
CAPRICE: How much have I told you about that relationship?
CADENCE, with her finger on her chin, thinking: Not much, just that it ended poorly. I assume the whole thing was pretty bad?
CAPRICE: Well, no, actually... Not at first, at least.

[PANEL 1]
A flashback begins. A younger Caprice sits at a blacktop table reading a book. Her hair is substantially longer and covers one of her eyes. No dialogue.

[PANEL 2]
A gray cat with an orange backpack grabs the back of the empty seat next to Caprice's.
YOUNG RHAPSODY: Yo, this seat taken?
YOUNG CAPRICE: Wha-!? Oh, uh, n-no!
YOUNG RHAPSODY: Rad.

[PANEL 3]
Young Caprice buries her face in her book, pretending to read but instead blushing heavily and peering over at Rhapsody, who has sat down and is listlessly scrolling on her phone while resting her head in her hand.
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): It was 10th grade. We met in Chemistry. She was the coolest girl I'd ever met. Err--up to that point, at least.
CADENCE, chiming in: nice save, babe
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY) responds quietly: thank you.

[PANEL 4]
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): We were polar opposites. She loved it when all eyes were on her. I hated it.
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): But... I think that's exactly what drew me to her.
A scene below the text boxes depicts Young Caprice and Rhapsody at their table in chemistry class. Rhapsody is excitedly standing up on her tip-toes raising a hand. Caprice is blushing and looks nervous due to the attention coming their way.

[PANEL 5]
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): She was everything I wanted to be. I mean, she could strike up a conversation like it was nothing. One day she did just that to me, and that's how we discovered a shared love for music.
Young Rhapsody and Caprice sit with their backs towards the camera, conversing. Rhapsody looks confident and excited, while Caprice looks shy and nervous. Caprice's iPod sits on the table in front of them with the screen turned on showing a song.
YOUNG RHAPSODY: Oh hell yeah, I love Anemoia. Heard their new single yet?
YOUNG CAPRICE: Wait, YOU listen to Anemoia??
YOUNG RHAPSODY: Yeah...? Why wouldn't I? They're good.
YOUNG CAPRICE: It's just, uh, their music is so... soft? Acoustic?
YOUNG RHAPSODY: Ha! What, I don't look like I like that kind of music? Well I like ALL music, believe it or not. What else ya got on there?

[PANEL 6]
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): Our conversations became frequent, and they'd always come back to music.
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): Before long, she'd come over. I'd play bass and she'd softly sing along.
Young Caprice sits in a large bean bag chair in the corner of a garage with a large teal bass guitar in her arms. Sealed cardboard boxes line the wall behind her, and a large garage door is to the left. Rhapsody sits nearby on a large yellow rug, facing Caprice. She's on her knees with her hands resting gently on her thighs. Music notes come from both the bass and Rhapsody, indicating Caprice is playing a song and Rhapsody is singing.

[PANEL 7]
A close-up shot of Rhapsody singing, with the camera now focused on her frontside. Her eyes are closed and she has a large smile as she sings.
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): It only took three of those meetups...

[PANEL 8]
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): ...for me to realize just how much I liked her.
A close-up sot of Caprice looking down at the singing Rhapsody with wide eyes, a huge blush, and several hearts coming out of her in the background.

The Way She Listened - Page 3

Published June 12, 2026

Rhapsody Humdrum Caprice

Author's Notes

Continuing the flashback!! Was especially interesting drawing Humdrum in high school. Enjoy those two panels of her because it'll be a bit before we see her again :P

Also, mystery guitarist from high school?? (⚆ᴗ⚆)

Originally completed on May 10th, 2023.

Show page transcript

[PANEL 1]
A long shot of a school hallway lined with lockers on one side and a classroom door on the other. Caprice stands on the right side of the panel, grabbing a coat inside an open locker. She is waving with a sad expression to Rhapsody in the distance. Rhapsody is waving frantically and running down the hall with an excited expression.
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): But I was a nobody, right? I was so easy to forget about.

[PANEL 2]
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): So imagine my surprise when she asked me out.
Young Caprice, still at her locker and grabbing her jacket, stares at Rhapsody in shock. Rhapsody is nervously holding out two red tickets to some event. Her hand is on the back of her head sheepishly.

[PANEL 3]
Young Caprice and Rhapsody, in the foreground, walk down a winding road in a park alongside a river. In the distance, a small sandy beach with a lawn chair and a tire swing are visible. Rhapsody is excitedly pointing down at the tire swing while Caprice bashfully looks towards her. No dialogue.

[BETWEEN PANELS 3 & 4]
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): At first, everything was perfect. We went everywhere together.

[PANEL 4]
A close-up of Young Caprice and Rhapsody's interlocking hands with a warm bright red background.

[BETWEEN PANELS 4 & 5]
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): Whenever I'd glance at her, I'd get butterflies. Every. Single. Time.

[PANEL 5]
A shot of Rhapsody at the same park from panel 3 from Caprice's perspective. Rhapsody is blushing while looking over towards the camera with a large smile.

[BELOW PANELS 3, 4, & 5, ABOVE PANELS 6, 7, & 8]
A large black splotch covers a horizontal stripe of the page, cutting it into a top half and bottom half. One line of dialogue exists over the splotch:
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): But it didn't last.

[PANEL 6]
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): Most days, I was lucky if I placed third in her priorities.
A close up of Caprice's cell phone held in her left hand. On the screen is a long of messages with Rhapsody that read as follows:
CAPRICE: Excited to see you! <3
PHONE TEXT: Saturday, Feb 3rd
CAPRICE @ 4:32: Hey What's up?
CAPRICE: This test is gonna kill my perfect grade lol
CAPRICE @ 9:12: u there?
PHONE TEXT: Tuesday, Feb 6th
CAPRICE @ 12:01: Wanna hang today? :)
PHONE TEXT: Friday Feb 9th
RHAPSODY: Coming to band practice today?
CAPRICE: yeah s- (text after the "s" is cut off by the panel border and cannot be seen)
Checkmarks by each message indicate that they have all been seen by Rhapsody.

[PANEL 7]
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): I formed that stupid band with her, thinking maybe we could do something together again.
From Young Caprice's perspective. She's standing in a doorway being opened by Humdrum and a redhead bunny girl with a pink electric guitar. Humdrum's hair is a dark gray, and she looks completely apathetic. The bunny girl is pleasantly smiling. Rhapsody is seen in the distance behind them, waving towards the viewer with a smile.

[PANEL 8]
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): I should've known that even that was all about her.
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): After all, she wanted me to join "her" band, right?
CAPRICE (I wrote every god-damn song that we played... but none of that mattered.
A large shot of Young Caprice, Rhapsody, Humdrum, and the redhead bunny girl playing in a band in a garage. Rhapsody, front-left, is enthusiastically singing into a microphone on a mic stand. She has one foot up on an amp. In the front-right is the bunny girl, confidently playing on her pink electric guitar while looking over to Rhapsody. In the back, Humdrum, on the left, is playing a large purple drumset. Her eyes are closed as she plays. Finally, in the back-right is Caprice playing her teal bass guitar. She's looking over at Rhapsody with a downtrodden expression as she plays.
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): It was "her" band.
CAPRICE (PRESENT DAY, NARRATING): It was always "her" band.

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