Austin’s POV

We had just gotten out of the food joint and back to the bus parked in a back lot of the bar. The owner gladly let us keep the bus here for a few days. Our band had agreed to stay here a few more days after earlier this morning when we discussed the newest find.

Yes, I did tell the rest of the band, but I didn’t tell them who it was. All they knew was that it was an actual person, not a ghost. They agreed to never tell anyone, but I was always cautious.

I plugged in the ear buds of my headphones and started listening to some Slipknot. My thoughts wandered to the girl, her friends, and what Ashton told me.

Earlier this morning, we ran into a group of four kids who were exceptionally surprised and happy to see us. We had signed some stuff for them and gotten to talk for a little while. Alan told one girl with brown hair that we had just stopped here for a few days while looking for a keyboardist.

“Oh, we heard about that! Our friend, Raven, she’s an awesome pianist and loves you guys!” A dark haired boy named Dante exclaimed perkily. The brown haired girl who Alan had immediately befriended nodded excitedly. The rest of the group seemed to agree.

“Oh, she’s wonderful! I’ve only heard her play once, but that was enough.” Her head shook furiously, nodding an agreement.

“Oh, she could rival the Singing Specter!”

“Nah, she’s WAY better than that old ghost!”

“Oh come on, R’s the best pianist the town knows!” They all chattered merrily. Aaron had suggested we go eat at the local Italian joint before searching for this girl. I had a feeling at that point in the morning that the Singing Specter and the girl they talked about were the same person.

It was confirmed at lunch that Raven was the girl. I didn’t tell anyone, but the boys kept their cool. She was shy, stunning, and a charmer. Her pug was adorable as well. I could tell the rest of the boys were impressed with her and she hadn’t even played for them yet! The rest of them made small talk while I thought over about inviting her to join our band. I would have to talk to the others first.

Her pug had licked my hand and when I turned back to face her, she was gone. Man, did she have a knack for disappearing fast! Her dad came up and talked to us for a little while.

“So how long has your daughter played piano?” Tino asked him. We got to know him a little better and it seemed like he was a very friendly guy.

“Oh, about fifteen years or so?” He nodded in affirmation. Alan let out a long whistle before glancing at me. It was his we-need-this-girl-in-the-band-and-if-you-don’t-ask-her-to-join-then-I-will-drag-her-here look. I shrugged and turned back to the man named Ashton.

“Wow. Did you teach her?” The ginger asked. Phil slurped on his ice water as we waited for an answer. Ash paused a moment, his eyes gaining a far-away look before refocusing.

“No, her mother was the piano teacher. She died of a stroke a couple years back.” He answered softly. Our faces fell. I knew the pain of having to lose your mother at such a young age. My heart went out to this girl. No wonder she was so shy!

But why had she refused to play the piano, saying that she wasn’t good when it was obvious she played each note beyond perfection?

“I’m sorry about that.” Aaron replied softly, breaking the silence. The pug, Jake, sneezed.

“Oh, it’s fine. Raven’s been pretty strong through it. It was a little harsh at first, but life’s gotten better.” He replied optimistically, but a spark of sadness still lingered.

“So does Raven still play?” Tino asked. Ashton had to think about that for a moment.

“You know, I really don’t know. After mom’s death, we had to sell the old piano to pay for bills. R-Girl was pretty distraught, but I haven’t heard her play at all. In fact, I think only the band teacher at the high school says she comes in on the occasion to just mess around on the keys.” The dad shrugged. R-Girl was a pretty interesting nickname. I might have to use that sometime.

“Oh really?” I responded, knowing better than that. Apparently, she played frequently, but not as Raven.

“Yeah, you know, her friends were telling me to that they hadn’t heard her play either. Her best friend, Kylar, said she’s only played for her once. I don’t know what’s happened.” Ashton sighed, obviously distraught. This only left me to wonder more about why Raven stopped playing.

It was like my own little mystery.

That was all an hour ago. Now, I was sitting in my bunk, listening to Slipknot and eyeing the bag in the corner of my little area. Eventually, the temptation to open it up was too great for me.

Yes, I had stolen Raven’s bag from the old church.

Actually, it was more like I was going to return it, but I had to “make sure” it was Raven’s first. Opening the fabric, I peeked inside. It was just a bunch of wrenches, and other tools.

There was also a small, blue journal.

Of course, I had to open it up. Inside were assorted scribbles across the first few pages. They were mostly just random drawings and a few odd sentences with little meaning. After the first few pages, the notes got sorted out. Some looked like journal entries scattered between song lyrics. A few looked original, other were credited to different bands. I even saw ours in there!

I think I held the key to solving the mystery of the shy pianist.

I spent the next hour searching through the journal for any clue of how to get Raven to come out of her shell. Okay, so I barely knew her but it felt like she’d been with me my entire life and I needed to help her out!

A particular entry caught my attention. I started to read.

Mom died four days ago. The funeral was today.

I’m such a screw up. I hate myself. I’m a failure and have no right to call myself a musician. I locked myself in my room and am sobbing right now. Why can’t I control myself? Why did I have to mess up in front of the entire town?!

So I was going to play at the funeral today. It was a dedication piece to my mother, her favorite song called The Raven and The Blue Jay. As soon as I walked up to the piano, I knew I couldn’t do this. I passed by her casket and nearly lost it. I was trembling so bad the notes got mixed up in my head and I wasn’t focusing clearly. I just needed hours to sort myself out, but that was time I never had.

Half way through the piece, I started to break down. I couldn’t play, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see. I screwed up the time, I mixed up the notes on what beats. It was like my mom was watching me and turning away from how bad it was.

It was my mom’s favorite piece and I botched it.

She only wanted a girl to make her proud one day on the piano and I failed her.

Now she’s dead. I can’t take that back.

Jay was there. As soon as I went off to the side, not even bothering to finish the piece, she came and made fun of me. She told me that I’ll never be a musician, that I was a failure, that I made my mother “proud” that I ruined her favorite song.

Jay always bullied me with comments of me never being a good enough musician to make it.

Now I know it’s true.

I’m sorry, I can’t keep writing. It’s just too hard, too painful to continue.

I finished up, putting the notebook down and trying to settle upon the thoughts. This was the one answer I needed. The rest of the entries had spoken for themselves. They all repeated that Raven was to go in front of others and perform. The rest had said that she didn’t want to mess up “like the last time”. That one page about her mother’s funeral had explained every other entry.

I brushed a silent tear off. This girl had gone through so much. She had been bullied until the last journal entry a week ago. It spoke of the fear, the possible embarrassment, and the known failure. The journal explained why she went to the church, to the piano named Blest. The entries told me why she stayed a ghost, and why she kept playing.

It told me her dream was to be on stage one day, to finally get over her fears that held her back like shackles. It was like she was a slave in shackles, never to be set free.

I felt bad for this girl. No wonder she didn’t want to play for me! No wonder her eyes were full of longing when I wondered if she would be interested in playing for the band, although her voice said she wasn’t good enough.

It was like she had been raised on the words, “You’re not good enough.” For the past few years.

I suddenly felt guilty for reading her journal. I had spent an hour and a half total reading it. It was full of personal information, personal secrets and ideas. Closing the notebook, I shoved the pages of guilt back into the bag. I would have to return it to her at some point.

Why not now?

I swung my legs out from over the bed side and grabbed the bag. Alan was reading a comic book in his tiger one piece suit on the back lounge. He was addicted to wearing that thing. As I opened the back door, he looked up.

“Hey, what’s that? Where are you going?” He rapidly fired the questions off. I sighed and paused to look at him.

“Oh, I just needed to return something.” I said simply, and left before he could question me further. I let the door slid shut behind me and walked down around the bar and on the side of the road. No cars passed me as the evening started to wear on. It was a wonderful Sunday night with the cool night air that would get a little colder.

My thoughts wandered like scattered sand bouncing around. Once I hit the actual cluster of buildings that created the town, I started towards the restaurant. I hoped that I could either catch her leaving or working at the diner.

A girl stopped my daydreaming as I came to a sudden halt. I looked at a blonde girl with deep blue eyes. Her face was caked in make up to a point of over doing it. She wore a skimpy top and shorts that seemed too small to be wearable.

“Um, hi.” I waved nervously. I was kind of on a time crunch. Her interception made it impossible to keep going. I had to make this quick.

“Oh, you must be Austin! You’re band is amazing!” She gushed compliments. I smiled and nodded, giving the occasional thanks before trying to slyly peer over her shoulder to The Three Meatballs doors. It looked like Ashton was sitting alone inside the room. I could see if her vehicle was in the back.

“So what brings you to Gold Ridge?” She put her hands on her hips. Her voice had some sort of feeling that it wasn’t very realistic, like she didn’t actually talk this kindly all the time.

“Oh, we’re just looking for a keyboardist for the band and decided to stop here. Besides, Alan wanted to check out the ghost.” I laughed. She giggled excessively. Okay, maybe I could kindly ask to get through.

“Oh I heard about the news! My friend Brenna is an AMAZING pianist! She’s been playing for five years and she’s much better than old ghost!” She chuckled in that annoying voice again. It was really starting to get on my nerves.

I highly doubted that a pianist for five years could beat out the pianist for fifteen years. Besides, I had heard Raven play. She was spectacular.

Who knows? Maybe this Brenna is just as good! I guess everyone deserved a chance.

“Oh really?” I asked her, sliding around her form and starting around the restaurant. Like a shadow, she followed me. Who was this clingy girl? I didn’t mind talking to fans, but I really appreciated it when they respected when I looked busy.

“Really! Brenna is the best piano player in town! She picks up on lyrics quickly and just brilliant with the keys.” Her voice exaggerated each word. Was this girl really a reliable source of information?

“Oh, well that sounds good.” I sighed and rounded the corner. It was time to finish up this conversation.

“You should check her out sometime! There’s an old piano in the church, and I’ll bring her down tomorrow!” She said cheerily. I nodded, planning on at least hearing this girl out.

“Oh, wonderful. I’ll plan on one.” I responded, going into the back lot.

“Okay! My name’s Jillian, but everyone calls me Jay for short. I’ll see you then!” She perkily waved me off.

That name, so familiar, but it just escaped the tip of my tongue. I knew I had heard it recently, but I had been so focused on trying to find Raven that I had just blanked.

Where had I heard that? It was seriously frustrating that I knew I had just heard it recently, but her high voice had basically erased my memory and left a headache.

Just as I went to the two cars parked in the back, I saw Raven exiting the building with Jake on his leash. She glanced up and froze when she saw me.

“Hey, Raven.” I tried to smile. She gave me another small smirk, but I could tell she was just about to bolt and make a quick exit if I lingered too long.

“Hey, Austin. If I may ask, why do you have my bag?” She pondered curiously. I blushed and looked down, forgetting that I had it. My thoughts really were scattered!

“Oh, um, I, I came to return it.” I stuttered and held it out to her. She moved forwards until she grasped it and clutched it closer to her chest. I patted Jake’s head as he moved towards me.

“Oh, thanks…..” She drifted off. I knew that she had instantly known that I had picked it up and kept it since Saturday.

“Yeah, no problem. Um, I just wanted to say, that, uh, you should really try out for the band. I think you would have a pretty high odds of making it. Actually, we’re not holding auditions yet, but, uh, I can talk to the others and see if they would want you to join us.” I scrambled my words together to try to make a plausible sentence. Why had this girl messed me up so badly?!

“Oh, um, I don’t know. That’s a really sweet offer, but I’m really not that good. I don’t want to embarrass myself or you guys with my sucky playing.” She joked, but I knew she meant it, despite the attempts to blow off the offer. I wasn’t about to give up yet.

“No, but seriously, I’m sure Tino, Phil, Aaron, and Alan would love you! Your friends already threw in a pretty positive word for you.” I suggested. I really wanted this girl. She wasn’t only a great piano player with unlimited talent, but she had a rough life and I wanted to be a part of helping her get her confidence back.

“Well that’s sweet of them, but I’m not much of one to play in front of crowds.” She laughed without humor. Oh man, I just wanted to pull that girl into my chest, hug her, and tell her how wrong she was. I wanted to make her believe that she had more talent than she realized.

“Well, the offer is still up. Some blonde girl named Jillian, or Jay, or something came up and suggested we listen to this other girl, Brenna, play piano. So tomorrow we’ll be at the old church at one in the afternoon. We’ll probably have to talk off by Tuesday morning. You can come join us for the day and listen in.” I shrugged, really wanting her to accept. I just wanted to spend the day with her and get to know Raven better.

She seemed to think it over. Jake, the blind pug, bumped into her leg three times. She reached down and stroked his soft fur.

“Jake says I should do it.” She laughed, a brilliantly true chuckle that rang out. It wasn’t some fake disguise. It was real. I silently thanked the dog for making her accept.

Then she froze in the short silence that followed.

“Wait, did you say Jay?” She asked cautiously. I nodded. Then the gears in my head finally clicked.

Jay was the bully. Oh dear, what did I do?

“Oh, I’ll try to make it.” She bit her lip nervously and started to get into her car.

“Please do. I’m sure the boys would love to meet you again.” I kept trying to win her over. She nodded, waved to me, and then drove off.

The entire time I walked back to the bus, I hoped she could make it.

Notes

JAY ALERT!!! *Sirens blaring in the distance* *Children crying* *Volcanoes erupting*

So what do you guys think of Jay so far? What did you think of this new kid, Brenna, claiming to be the "best" piano player! Comment below and tell me what you think!

Thanks, and stay beautiful!