One Night

Chapter 7

Chapter 7
The next day, when the band turned up for practice, they could only watch as Evan and Piper chatted on about different music. When they started arguing, the others said nothing.
“I think we should try this one,” Piper handed him a sheet of paper.
Evan shook his head, “no way! ‘One night’s’ so much better than this piece of rubbish.”
“No, ‘One night’ is just me feeling angry and expressing it. Plus, I haven’t finished writing it,” she pointed out.
“What are you guys going on about?” Mauve finally asked.
“We think that maybe we should start playing our own music. What do you reckon?” Evan looked around the group as he spoke.
“Its about time,” Mauve enthused.
“Sure, but what the heck are we going to sing?” Logan asked.
“We both write songs so, something from us. I reckon that we should use Piper’s ‘One night,’” Evan suggested.
“It’s only a chorus, so it’s pretty useless at the moment,” Piper disagreed.
“Play it for us and let all of us decide,” Kaeden waved a hand at her.
Piper gulped but nervously picked up her guitar. She knew that the more she practiced, the more at ease she would be at playing in front of others, but she still felt the apprehension every time someone told her to play.
“This song isn’t finished, which is why I wouldn’t suggest using it,” Piper warned.
“Just play and give us the idea of it,” Mauve insisted.
Piper nodded and began to pluck at the strings, “one night in a big, big city was the night you stole from me. One night in a big, big city was the night when you lost me,” Piper stopped playing, “that’s about it,” she made a vague gesture as the uncertainty grew over what they would think of the brief snippet.
“I like it!” Mauve declared.
“It’s angry, and we all know who it’s about,” Kaeden smirked.
Piper rolled her eyes, “obviously.”
“Write it up, and we should play it,” Logan replied.
“See I told you they’d like it,” Evan grinned.
“It’s not as easy as write it up,” Piper argued, “sometimes it doesn’t work that fluidly.”
“What have you got that’s completed that we can work on?” Kaeden asked.
Piper sent a triumphant look to Evan, “that would be one of Evan’s songs.”
“Play it for us then,” Mauve turned to her brother.
“I’m not doing it when there’s someone far superior at it than me,” Evan turned Piper’s grin back at her.
“It’s your song. Use whatever melody you intended to use.”
“Not when yours sounded so much better,” he pointed at her guitar.
She sighed and started on what she had played the night before. Keeping her eyes closed for the first few moments helped her to play and to begin to sing. When she opened her eyes, she saw them all watching and listening intently, which gave her the confidence to continue. As the final chord ended and her voice trailed away, she saw the grins on the faces of the other band members.
“That’s deep, Evan.  I never took you to have such a depth of character,” Logan teased.
“Shut up,” Evan growled.
“The budding songwriter extraordinaire,” Kaeden taunted.
“Stop that,” Piper stridently demanded, “song writing is a lot harder to do than you think, and it comes from the heart. I’d like to see you do the same. Can you even write poetry, Logan? What about you, Kaeden? If you can’t do it, then I’d shut up and appreciate that you have someone in your band who can!” Piper’s voice grew louder, and everyone fell silent.
“The way I look at it is that we’ve got one of the most famous songwriters in the world guiding us. If she thinks it’s okay, then it probably is,” Evan said.
“I’ve had plenty of stuff rejected over the years,” Piper mentioned, so they wouldn’t start to think that she knew everything.
“Where are the rejected songs?” Evan asked excitedly.
“I threw them out,” she replied, knowing full well that she didn’t.
“Really?” he raised his brows at her, but she looked away.
“Why did they reject them?”
“Too deep for Shiana. They always wanted to portray her as the happy pop princess,” Piper made a face.
“We need to hear this too deep for Shiana stuff,” Evan mused.
“Let’s start on your song first,” Piper insisted, “do you need me to write out sheet music to get started?” the group nodded, and they watched her pull out blank sheets of paper, “am I sticking with what I played or the way you had it?”
“Yours sounded a lot better than mine, so we’re going with yours,” Evan said.
“You never let me hear what you wanted to play,” Piper argued.
“It looks like you two have been really working together,” Mauve teased.
Piper blushed and ducked her head, refusing to answer. Instead, she began to pluck at her guitar strings to make sure she wrote down the correct notes as a distraction.
“It’s not that clandestine, Mauve, don’t get carried away,” Evan chuckled.
“Brother of mine, maybe you should try and look at this the way that we’re seeing it. Yesterday we sang other people’s songs and today you’re doing exactly what I’ve been suggesting to you for ages and writing your own songs. Do you see where I’m going with this?” Mauve stared hard at her brother, but her eyes remained full of mischief.
Evan cleared his throat and glanced away. At seeing his embarrassment, Mauve started to chuckle.
“Maybe you’ve finally met a musician that you find worthy,” Mauve continued to tease.
Piper worked on writing out the song and tried to ignore the bantering. When she thought about it, Piper realised that Mauve had it right. Evan had spent a lot of time with her recently. Was it just because he found musicians attractive? Did it have anything to do with her personally or just because he liked musicians?
She glanced at Evan only to find him glaring at his sister. Her heart sank in knowing that it could be the fact she was a musician that made him want to spend time with her. After all, she wasn’t the prettiest face, nor did she have the best body.
Piper forced herself to focus on writing out the music. That was something she knew how to do. As much as she needed the band to help her cope with crowds, she had to put away her growing affection for Evan. She needed to focus on her goal of singing in front of a crowd. That’s what she needed to achieve.
The complication that Evan brought to her life wasn’t something she needed. Even as she told herself that, her heart ached. She had enjoyed spending time with him more than she had expected.
“Okay, here we go. Today, we can just play it until we get used to it, if you like,” Piper said as she handed the sheets out to the other band members.
They played together for the next few hours, gradually finding the melody coming together as they played. Piper tweaked with the sound as she listened to it.
“Listen, I’ve got stuff to do this arvo, so we’ll have to take up this practice later in the week,” Kaeden said once he stopped playing.
“Alright, what nights this week can everyone practice?” Evan asked.
Soon enough, they had a schedule for their practice evenings. As they packed up, Mauve kept on teasing her brother, and Piper withdrew herself from the conversation.
“See you, guys,” Piper said as she closed her guitar case and walked out of the garage.
“Hey, Piper, wait,” Evan called to her.
Piper had already made her way through the gap in the fence to her Gram’s house. He watched her go in confusion while he tried to figure out what had bothered her.
“I’d go talk to her if I was you,” Logan said as he nudged Evan’s shoulder.
“I don’t get what’s bothering her. Didn’t we just have a good practice. She’s improving every day at singing with us.”
“I think she took what your sister said to heart.”
“About what?”
“Your love of a female musician, and if they happen to write songs, how you instantly swoon over them,” Logan said with a laugh, “haven’t you listened to a word that Mauve said?”
“Surely Piper didn’t take that seriously,” Evan swished a dismissive hand at the mere suggestion.
“You need to look at where Piper’s been. She had people stealing her music, and she felt helpless against that. Mauve, you shouldn’t have said all of that,” Logan said to both of the siblings.
“Except that it’s true. I needed her to know what he was like,” Mauve defended her comments.
“I’m not that bad,” Evan huffed.
“But you are predictable.  You like female musicians, and you like female songwriters. That’s who you find attractive in this world. She needs to know that,” Mauve snapped.
Evan fell silent as he realised the implications of what Piper had heard and how she might perceive it. He glowered at his sister for the assumptions that she made about him. What was wrong with him wanting to spend time with Piper?
Meanwhile, Piper went inside and tried not to allow her heart to sink down any further. She placed her guitar in her room and went to search for her grandmother.
After walking all through the house, she remembered that her Gram intended to go out with her friends today. Piper frowned and sat at the kitchen table. She wasn’t sure what to think about all that Mauve had insinuated that day.
It was only the doorbell that startled her from her thoughts. Without realising, she had started to scribble her thoughts down on paper. Her confusion echoed in each written word.
She wasn’t terribly keen on answering the door when Shiana kept showing up at the oddest times. With a sigh, she marched over and tugged it open while expecting the worst.
Evan standing at the door wasn’t who she had prepared herself to see. He smiled a bit ruefully at her, but she stayed silent.
“Look, Mauve gets carried away by her mouth sometimes,” Evan started to babble.
“But she’s right, isn’t she?” Piper replied.
“Why wouldn’t I like a woman who enjoys the same things as I do?”
Piper couldn’t answer that because he had a point. She looked at him carefully and tried to consider the situation differently. They both enjoyed writing music, playing, and singing, so it seemed only natural that they would form a bond just from that.
“Look, Evan, I know I’m not the prettiest person in the world. The only thing I actually have is my music. Most men don’t find me attractive,” Piper started to explain.
“What has looks got to do with anything?” Evan interrupted.
“I, uh, guess what I wanted to explain was that guys don’t look at me, but you have since the first day we met. It’s why I feel like what Mauve said is the truth. You only like me because I’m a musician and you also know I’m a famous musician.”
“Okay, stop there,” Evan interrupted her again.
“Why? When it’s obviously the truth.”
“Its not the truth. You see yourself through the reflection of Shiana, and you’re not seeing yourself the way that I see you.”
“Exactly how do you see me?” Piper whispered.
“That talent of yours is the most extraordinary thing that I’ve ever seen, but it’s not the only reason that I like spending time with you. You’re smart and funny. The way you smile at your grandmother or how you always flick your hair behind your ears or the sheer loyalty that you showed your best friend. All of these tiny little facets make you just as fascinating as hearing you sing or watching you write music,” Evan declared.
Piper’s jaw dropped open, and she stared at him, “was that? Do you really mean that?”
“Of course, I mean it. Tell you what, how about we go out for a coffee?” he asked in a hopeful tone that made Piper’s heart flutter madly.
“As a date?” she asked shyly.
“Sure, or it can just be a caffeine hit if you want it to be,” he shrugged.
“You know what? I’d love that. Let me change.”
She smiled at him and went back inside. Her body wanted to explode with joy in her chest. All of those words he had said about her meant such a lot. He liked her for who she was, not just because she was a musician. That had to be the most marvellous thing she’d ever heard.
One night, after finding out a startling truth, things started to change.