One Night

Chapter 12

Chapter 12
Piper relived that kiss in her mind all through the next few days. It was only when Evan suggested working on her songs more when she put away the delight of their kiss and got to work.
Over the next month, songs that she had never thought would see the light of day became her focus. The pain those songs once caused her now healed as she shared them with the band.
To hear her songs appreciated gave her an unexpected warmth. The memories became less important as the band played precious songs that portrayed her life. She could now link better emotions to the horrible times she had endured.
Together, the band practiced and began making extra time in their lives for her music. It filled Piper with not only a sense of achievement but also comradery that she had rarely experienced in her life.
“That’s sounding great,” Piper said as she let the last chords sound.
“I can’t believe we’ve got such a great lot of songs to use. You’re a musical genius, Piper,” Mauve cheered.
Piper blushed and looked away. She still hadn’t adapted to the way the band members always complimented her. It made her feel as if she could achieve anything.
“So, I might have set up a proper gig for us on the weekend,” Evan admitted, and Piper’s joy turned into shock.
“What?” every band member exclaimed at once.
“We’ve been practising, and we’ve got original songs now. Come on, guys, it’s been over a month of us working on these. Piper just said that we sounded great, so why wouldn’t we at least try a live gig?” Evan encouraged.
“I don’t think I’m ready for that,” Piper tried to contain her instant nausea as she considered a gig in front of strangers.
“Come on, every weekend we’ve been playing for our family or friends. You’re getting really good at singing in front of a crowd,” Evan insisted.
“Family and friends aren’t the same as a group of strangers, Evan,” she protested.
“You’ll do great, and this will get your own songs out into the world.”
Piper fell silent as she contemplated. Evan had it right. Every weekend, they had  played to an audience, and she had noted that the groups had gradually grown in size. Her confidence has also grown at the positive reviews she’d received.
Friends and families would always show more encouragement than strangers, and she knew that. Shiana had her own critics, which had dragged Piper’s self-esteem down over the years. What if nobody liked the music that wasn’t Shiana’s trademark?
Her music now had a more personal edge than it ever had before. This wasn’t about pleasing a percentage of the population. This was about exploring her music with a group of people who appreciated this new music.
Dare she try, or was it too soon? She wasn’t sure what to say. At some point, she needed to take that step. She had to gather her gumption and sing in front of strangers. Evan had just given her the perfect opportunity.
“Give it a try. You’ve improved so much and you don’t have any trouble singing now. I know you don’t feel good when you start out, but you always sing every song,” Evan enthused.
“And it's actually real, like a real gig,” Logan said I’m amazement.
“They aren’t going to pay us for the first one because I said that they need to see how we all go,” Evan said.
“Great, so I guess it’s just another family event,” Kaeden groaned.
“No, it’ll be whoever’s at the cafe that we’re playing at,” Evan shrugged.
The rest of the band talked it over for a while, which gave Piper time to think. This was the opportunity that she wanted. Not only could she get her music out into the world, but she could also use it as a chance to rid herself of her stage fright.
“We should do it. It’ll have a two-fold effect of working on fixing my nerves and seeing if an audience of strangers actually like my songs. It’ll give us a chance to hear how we sound in a live venue,” Piper finally said.
The room fell to silence, and all eyes turned to Piper. She could only wonder what she had said wrong.
“Piper, your music is more wonderful and profound than a lot of popular music. I think you need to show more confidence in yourself. If I thought your songs sounded crap I would’ve told you the moment I heard them,” Mauve, as blunt as ever, pointed out.
Piper had come to know these
people while working together on her music. She knew and had known, from the first day they met that Mauve, would always give her honest opinion. Logan and Kaeden tried more encouragement than sounding as blunt as Mauve. Evan was the guiding force within the group. Where he led the others followed without even realising.
Mauve’s words gave her a new perspective. She would surely have mentioned if she didn’t like any of the songs. She wasn’t a subtle woman in making her opinion known.
“Believe in myself and my music. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Piper asked with a smile.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Mauve said with a firm nod.
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Piper said with a small laugh.
“So, does that mean we’ll do the gig?” Evan asked.
All of the group nodded and showed their enthusiasm with a small cheer. Piper took a deep breath and added her nod. This was the start of her reclaiming her music.
For the rest of the week, they practised every night to prepare for their upcoming gig. Piper reminded herself time and again that she would find the strength inside of her to sing in front of strangers. After all, she had been singing for the past few weekends with fewer issues.
Sure, she still had doubts. It always took a great deal of effort to prepare for anytime when she had to sing in front of others, but she knew she needed to succeed at it.
Hadn’t she thought about singing in front of strangers  back when they saw Irvin about new instruments? This was her way to start seeing if her music had an audience. This would give her music independence. As scared as she was, she needed to take the chance.
The day of the gig, she struggled to calm her nerves. Had they organised enough songs? Did the guys remember all of the music? Some of the tracks had a hard edge, while others sounded soft and sweet. Was that too extreme? All her doubts returned, and she found herself pacing her grandmother’s house.
A knock on the door was a distraction that she wasn’t ready for. She yanked it open only to find a more interesting distraction in the form of a half-naked Evan.
“Hello,” she said a little tensely.
“I thought you might like to join me at the beach today. What do you reckon?” Evan asked.
Piper blinked and stared at him. It was the last thing she expected him to say. It certainly stopped her worries until it all tumbled back upon her.
“We have to play tonight, and there’s so much to organise,” Piper said with a shake of her head.
“Piper, you couldn’t possibly organise anything else. Everything is as ready to go as it’s ever been,” he coerced.
She knew that he had it right, but her mind struggled to comprehend anything. Maybe they should have one more practice to appease her worries.
“Piper, worrying over it all is only going to stress you out more when you do get on the stage.  We all agreed that we know the songs as best we can. Come on, let’s go for a swim. It would be a waste to miss out on such a beautiful day,” Evan tried to convince her.
“I just don’t know.”
“Piper, get out of this house now. I can't stand anymore of your pacing and worrying,” Bridget demanded, and Evan smiled at her.
“Is it that bad already?” Evan teased.
“You have no idea,” Bridget rolled her eyes.
“I’m not that bad,” Piper protested.
“No, you’re worse. Go, shoo!”
Realising that she had no choice, Piper went back to her room to change. A thrill of excitement took over the fear. Evan wanted to spend the day with her. That was definitely something to take her mind off the upcoming gig. Once she had her swimmers on, slapped herself with sunscreen, and had thrown a dress over the top, she headed back to where Evan and Bridget chattered.
There was such a casual ease between the two of them that Piper envied. Sometimes, she found herself so enamoured of Evan that she struggled to speak to him or blurted out silly statements. He had seen her cry, and that had embarrassed her. They had also shared wonderful kisses, but she didn’t feel like she shared the same comradery as what he had with her grandmother.
“I’m ready,” Piper said, making the seated pair look towards her.
“That’s great. Come on,” Evan gestured outside.
“Have fun, you two,” Bridget waved them off with a smile.
“You two always get on so well,” Piper said once she sat in his car.
“Your Gram is a great lady. She talks about you nonstop, then again, I talk about you just as much,” he admitted as a small blush covered his cheeks.
“You talk about me.”
“That’s where most of our conversations go. She’s so proud of you and what you’ve accomplished. Plus, I love the stories she tells about you,” he grinned at her.
“What stories?” she asked as dread washed over her.
“About when you were a kid.”
“Ugh, I need to stop you and Gram talking together so much.”
He laughed and drove off towards the beach. Piper hadn’t spent as much time at the beach as she would’ve liked. Music had become her focus once again, and she forgot the ocean that sat a ten minute walk away from her Gram’s house.
When Evan parked, Piper stepped out of the car and breathed in the salt spray air. She really needed to come down here more often. There was something so inspiring about the waves pounding rhythmically upon that golden sand. The way the rocks jutted out while awaiting the waves embrace made her want to write a song.
“Time for a swim,” he gestured to the ocean.
“That sounds great,” she enthused.
After placing their towels upon the sand, Piper awkwardly removed her dress. She hadn’t thought about the logistics of being in a swimsuit in front of Evan until it happened. She didn’t easily flaunt anything about herself, so this situation left her unsure of what to do.
“Let’s test that water,” Evan said.
He was so sure of himself and had no qualms as he reached for her hand. If only she could be more like him.
Hand in hand, they walked towards the water. As the wave rushed up the sand towards her, Piper anticipated the chill of the water. As it reached her, she allowed her toes to sink within the sand.
She had let her music carry her away so much that she had forgotten the sheer beauty of nature that surrounded her. As always, music became her focus and made the real world disappear. She realised that this was a wonderful distraction away from her thoughts of this evening.
“We haven’t spent much time together recently,” Evan said as they began to wade into the water.
“We’re together all of the time,” she replied, even when she understood exactly what he meant.
“Alone. All that time we spend with the band isn’t with us together,” he said as he glanced over at her.
“We have to practice, especially when it’s all new songs. If we don’t practice, then when we try for real it’s going to sound terrible,” Piper argued.
“I’m not disputing that. We do have to practice, but we haven’t spent any time together recently.”
“No, I guess we really haven’t. My music often takes over the real world. I’ve never been able to have a relationship because my music overrules everything else,” she admitted.
“It had nothing to do with Shiana?”
Piper frowned. She had never considered that before. Music had always been her life. It was the one constant that never let her down, but had she let it stop her from allowing other people  into her life?
A wave splashed against her leg, and she focused on it. Her frown deepened, and it was only Evan’s fingers squeezing in hers that made her turn to him.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said softly.
“You didn’t upset me. Instead, you gave me something to think about. I guess I never realised that I had only focused on my music. It was my dream, and I clung to it so hard that I never noticed that I’d missed out on having friends or relationships for that matter,” she mused.
“Now you can focus on more than that if you want, and I’m happy to be a part of that focus,” he said as he grinned at her.
Piper shyly smiled back, and a warm, tingling warmth spread through her chest. She turned and hugged him. It made her so happy to hear such wonderful words from him. He wanted to be a part of her life, and that left her giddy.
“I’d like that,” she admitted.
“Good.”
He looked at her with such a depth of feeling that her heart could barely contain its joy. Never in her life had she wanted anything to be as real as what this was. Evan wanted to be with her, and she wanted to be with him.
“Does that help to take away all that fear of tonight?” he asked.
“Not really, but it’s nice to know,” she admitted.
“Good. Let’s not worry about tonight until we have to. I plan on having a swim and lunch before I tackle thoughts of tonight.”
“We do have things organised. I mean everything’s ready to go,” she agreed.
“That it is,” he reached over and tapped her cheek, so she smiled.
She liked that things between them had started to grow and change. The consternation she felt from earlier vanished, and she realised how foolish she had acted. Why did she always see the worst in any situation?
“What are you thinking about?” he asked as they waded deeper into the water.
“Why I overdramatise everything,” she admitted, and then, to hide her blush, she ducked under the water.
“What are you overdramatising?” he asked when she reappeared.
“Haven’t you noticed? You always have to reassure me about everything. From the band, the bond you and Gram share, down to building relationships with people. I never thought I was such an insecure person,” Piper admitted with a wince.
“You’ve had people control your life for years, so it makes sense to me that you’re not sure which way to look at things. I get the feeling that you didn’t have a chance at making any of your own decisions. In one way, you now get to figure out who you are. You get to decide what you like and want in your life,” Evan explained.
Piper stilled and stared at him, only for a wave to splash against her, which threw her balance out. She fell into the water with an ungraceful splash. She came up spluttering when Evan grabbed her arm.
“You do know that swimming is a part of entering the ocean, don’t you?” Evan teased.
Piper laughed freely and felt a lightness within her. Evan had it right. She could now do and be whoever she wanted to be. She’d never experienced such freedom in her life. She threw her arms around Evan and squeezed him closer to her.
“One of the things I want in this new life of mine is to have you with me,” she told him with a beaming smile.
Evan could only hug her back, “I’d like to be a part of your life, and I’m pretty sure I’ve already told you about that.”
“One of the other things I want to do is to help the band go further. We’re going to go in there tonight and play our hearts out,” Piper said with such enthusiasm that Evan stepped back from her.
“This is a new you,” he said.
“What can I tell you, but you’ve awakened a part of me that I’d forgotten even existed.”
She leaned into him and offered a brief kiss upon his lips before turning and diving into the water.
With her life back to feeling more like hers, Piper determined that from now on, she would see this evening as the most positive experience. She would face that audience with gusto. She would sing those songs so that every member of her audience would hear this new sound of hers.
Shiana no longer had a say in her life. She was now free to be exactly who she chose to be. From now on, Piper would start running her own life and not allow others to control her. A sense of power ran through her, and she clutched it to her as she grinned up at Evan. Today was Piper’s day!
On a sunny day at a sandy beach, on obvious truth returned a world back to where it belonged.