One Night

Chapter 4

Chapter 4
Piper couldn’t stop her hands from shaking. She grasped hold of her guitar case harder when her fingers became slippery. This wasn’t a good idea, she shouldn’t go towards the muffled music she could hear echoing out to her.
Walk forward, she told herself firmly. She needed to show Shiana and her parents that she could sing on stage. They needed to see that she could forge her own career without any of their help.
Taking another deep breath, she heard the roll of the drums, and her heart began to pound with more joy than she could ever imagine. She had missed the sheer exhilaration of playing her music.
Straightening her spine, she began the small walk next door that somehow felt like a giant leap. These were her kind of people. They were in a band and liked to play as a group.
She could see the garage door propped open and the band strumming along to a familiar tune. Her heart clenched, and she gulped in a breath. She wasn’t great at meeting new people.
“Hey, Piper, come on in,” Evan waved an arm as he slung his guitar onto his back.
There were three other people within the garage, all staring at her curiously. She forced her foot not to start tapping and made an attempt at a smile.
“Hi, Evan,” Piper said as all those eyes bored into her.
“Let me introduce everyone. Logan is the one on the keyboard,” Evan gestured to a blonde haired, good-looking guy who waved at her.
“Hi Piper,” Evan’s told us about your singing ability,” Logan’s effervescence and welcoming words helped Piper to relax.
“Kaeden’s our bass guitarist,” Evan moved onto the darker haired man in the group.
“Yo, Piper,” Kaeden waved his arm and grinned. He was a big guy who towered over her.
“Lastly, we’ve got my sister, Mauve, on the drums,” Evan pointed to the woman who was the youngest in the group, somewhere in her early twenties.
“Hey, just in case you’re wondering why he wanted you to join us, our singer quit last week,” Mauve said with a snide sneer.
“Mauve!” Evan snapped.
Piper’s nerves increased at this woman’s obvious bad attitude. Did she want to be in a group where she didn’t feel welcomed?
“Luckily, we don’t play our own stuff, which is actually a good thing, because maybe you already know the lyrics,” Mauve’s hostility increased.
Piper decided not to argue, “what do you play?” she turned to Evan to ask, not wanting to get involved in whatever the siblings had a past argument about.
Evan rolled his eyes, “do you know any of Shiana’s songs? We’re playing for a party next weekend and they want her songs.”
Piper had to quickly stifle her shock and then a chuckle before she could answer, “which ones?”
Evan stared at her and then said a few different song names. It took Piper a moment to compose herself to answer.
“I think you picked a dud, Evan,” Mauve said with a snort.
That gave Piper the gumption to take her guitar from her case. She began playing the first song with no hesitation and found herself lost in the nostalgia of the song. For the first time, she forgot that strangers surrounded her. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the music as the rest of the band joined her. Once the introduction finished, she began to sing, and her voice grew stronger as the song progressed. Only the sound of heels tapping sharply against the ground took her focus away. She knew that noise and it grated on her.
The tapping grew louder, so Piper raised her voice so it wouldn’t distract her. When the huffing noise began, she forced herself to keep playing. Shiana wasn’t getting her way this time.
“How dare you sing in public!” Shiana screeched.
Piper looked up, composed herself, and tried to calm her breathing, “this isn’t public, and you have no say in where I sing anymore”
“Is that? No, it can’t be,” Mauve sounded like a gasping fish from behind her.
“No wonder she doesn’t talk,” Evan muttered.
“Are you trying to expose me? Is that it? Do you want more money?” Shiana demanded.
“I want my best friend back,” Piper looked at Shiana for the first time, “I want my friend who backed me up one hundred per cent when they released this song. I want my best friend who supported me, and at the talent show, she refused to let me hide. I miss her, and I want her back. This greedy, selfish woman in front of me isn’t even my friend anymore, let alone my best friend,” Piper’s voice grew until she screamed out the words.
“I... I... am not.”
“You are, Shiana. You wanted to take the credit for everything that’s mine. Let’s face it, you’re just the pretty package who smiles and waves at my fans,” Piper snarled.
Shiana’s face paled, and she stepped back, “where is this coming from?”
“Years of you taking advantage of me. The final clincher was when you tried to steal my work. As I signed nothing, you get nothing. You need to leave because we have nothing together anymore, and I don’t want to know you anymore,” Piper pointed out of the garage with a shaky finger.
Shiana stared at Piper, “it was dad and mum’s idea, you know that.”
“But you never refused their ideas, you went along with them. If I had signed that contract, you still wouldn’t have said a word. That’s a bad friend, Shiana.”
Piper refused to give her ex friend another chance to speak, so she started playing again. To her surprise, the rest of the band joined her. She watched Shiana shuffle away even as her anger continued to burn.
Only when the song ended did she realise that she had to face these people. She had only just met them moments before, and they now knew the truth of her life.
“That’s something your grandmother didn’t mention about you,” Evan tried to inject some humour into the situation.
“She wouldn’t,” Piper admitted.
“Wow, you’re the voice of Shiana. I mean, when you started singing, it sounded like her, but I just thought it was a coincidence,” Mauve said as she looked at Piper with wide, shocked eyes.
“How did that come about?” Logan asked.
Piper blew out a breath and wondered what to tell them. They had already heard a lot of the truth, so she decided to trust in their discretion.
“I don’t care if you make what you just saw public. I don’t give a damn about what the fans know as the truth anymore,” she said in a dull tone.
“We’re not going to say anything,” Evan said as he glanced around at the group.
“Hells bells, we can have Shiana’s voice singing in our band. That’s awesome!” Kaeden cheered.
“You may not want me for very long,” Piper admitted wryly.
“Why?”
“I can’t sing in front of people.”
“You just sung in front of us,” Mauve pointed out.
“Crowds freak me out, and I can’t play, let alone get the words out,” Piper’s face went bright red at how mortified she was to admit the truth.
“We all get stage fright,” Evan said softly.
“To the point where you’re paralysed and can’t even talk?”
“We can work on that,” Evan encouraged, but she shook her head.
“I’ve tried every idea anyone ever mentioned to me, including therapy, but I still have no luck,” Piper put her head in her hands.
“So that’s why Shiana sings for you,” Mauve said.
“She lip syncs because she can’t sing.”
“How did this all begin?” Logan asked.
Piper looked at the intrigued group in front of her. Nobody had truly heard the story, except for those involved. Should she trust these people?
“You don’t have to tell us,” Evan gave her an out, but she decided not to take it.
“The untold story of Shiana,” she said with a dark chuckle.
“It sounds like it could be,” Evan smiled and waved a hand for her to continue.
Piper plucked at the strings of her guitar before she turned to face them. The eagerness that gazed back at her contained no greed, only interest, fascination, and amazement.
“Alright, here’s the whole sordid tale,” Piper said as she let the words fly free.
She told them everything from the beginning. Starting with the talent show, she then expanded the story with how her grandmother had paid Colah to train her voice and improve her songwriting. Talking about how her song had taken off with Shiana as the face of her music was when she couldn’t hide her bitterness. By the time she finished her story of how they intended to steal her work, she had all of them flabbergasted.
“That’s very hard to swallow, except for one thing, your grandmother always told me that you’re a truthful person,” Evan said after a long pause.
“Except for Shiana and my music,” Piper sighed.
“Maybe, but they kept control of you with all of that stuff when you were the actual person doing all of the work,” Mauve said as she shook her head.
“That’s harsh,” Logan agreed, and Kaeden nodded his agreement.
“We need to help you to sing in front of an audience,” Evan declared.
“It won’t work, but thanks, Evan,” Piper smiled sadly.
“It will. We just have to find the right motivation. On the weekend it’s just Logan’s youngest sisters birthday party who we’re singing for. We don’t even have to teach you anything else because you are Shiana,” Evan’s soft brown eyes watched her, and his smile warmed her heart.
“It doesn’t mean that I’ll manage to sing anything,” Piper admitted.
“You’ll get up there and sing in spite of Shiana. She can’t stop you from singing your own songs,” Evan’s voice grew in strength.
Piper saw the absolute determination on his face. He wanted her to succeed, and that boosted her courage. Here was a stranger she barely knew, and he wanted her to succeed at something that Shiana and her family never once attempted.
“I’ll give it a try,” she tried to sound brave, but her voice shook.
“Then start by standing in front of us, looking at us and singing. Before you had your eyes closed, but now you have to look at us and sing,” Evan said.
Piper’s heart clenched, her palms sweated, and the food she ate earlier swirled around and wanted to come back up. Nausea engulfed her, and it became hard to breathe.
This group of people wanted her to sing for them. It was rare for people to see her sing, even in recording studios, because her nerves took over if anyone watched her.
She realised that if she wanted to reclaim her music, then she would need to sing in front of people. Somehow, she would have to overcome the deep-seated fear she had of crowds. She wasn’t sure if it was even possible, but she knew she needed to try.
“You guys don’t even know me, so why do you want to help me?” Piper asked.
“Are you kidding?” Mauve threw her arms into the air.
“Mauve,” Evan warned.
“You are one of the most famous singer-songwriters in the world. You’re awesome, and you deserve to be the face of your own music. You wrote those songs. You did! Not that... that face who just left here. Do you even know how awe inspiring you are? People love your music and feel moved by your words, not a pretty face,” Mauve grew more passionate as she spoke.
“Okay, Mauve, point made,” Evan chuckled.
“You all agree with Mauve?” Piper asked as she glanced around at everyone in the room only to see each head nod.
“You have a talent that we’ll never have,” Evan said with a soft smile.
“If you help me past my fears, then I’ll help you in return,” Piper declared.
“How?”
“Let’s see, I can start by buying you new instruments that aren’t what look like either hand me downs or from a second-hand store,” Piper said as she gestured to their instruments.
“They’re not that bad, and we rent any stuff that we need when we play,” Logan defended.
“After we get your sound right, we’ll look at getting some recording time for you guys,” Piper continued, and the protests fell silent.
“How would you know anyone if Shiana was the face?” Mauve asked bluntly.
Piper gave a cheeky smile, “our old record company had plenty of people who knew the truth.”
“And nobody said anything?” Kaeden sounded outraged.
“Colah was in charge of all the organisation. He made sure that everyone knew of my stage fright. To be honest, Shiana is one of the biggest secrets within the music industry,” Piper admitted.
“Then it’s time for that secret to come into the light,” Mauve raised one arm.
“Maybe,” Piper shrugged.
“Then let’s start with ending your stage fright,” Evan gestured for her to stand in front of them.
Piper did so with great hesitation. Her heart began to race, and sweat formed an uncomfortable sheen on her forehead. Nausea overwhelmed her, and she struggled to take a breath.
“First, take a deep breath,” Evan advised in a silky voice.
“If I do, I might vomit,” Piper admitted.
“No worries there, it’s only Evan's garage,” Mauve joked as she pushed an empty bucket towards Piper.
“We all have different ways of coping with getting up on stage. We just have to figure out which one works for you,” Evan insisted.
“What do you do?” Piper asked.
Mauve snorted, “that smooth talker lives for being on stage. He loves a crowd.”
“Not true, Sis, sometimes I feel nervous. I think you should just start singing. Keep your eyes closed, and then open them when you feel less pressured. Pretend that we aren’t here and play,” Evan reached out and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.
Piper looked up into those brown, encouraging eyes and slowly nodded. She could do this, and she would do it so that she could finally do the one thing that had always petrified her.
The world needed to know that Shiana wasn’t the singing sensation who she pretended to be. This was Piper’s chance to find her own way with her music, and she had people willing to help her achieve what felt like an impossible feat. If she wanted the world to know who Piper Delaney was, then she had to be the one to achieve that.
One night in a small garage, a group of strangers offered a chance, and she took it.