“You’ve wished me enough luck, can I go now?” Evelyn Jane shuddered at Shaun Piper’s touch and tried distancing herself from his next advance by pushing his face back.

He grabbed her wrist, thankfully not the one he had bruised earlier that week. She'd have no hope to play if he damaged it again. His grip was hard and his expression was even harder, “Careful with that tone young lady. You don’t want me dropping any hints…”


He stopped speaking. Movement had caught the corners of their eyes from the end of the hallway and Evelyn Jane turned her gaze to where Shaun was glancing. Franz was standing there, an indifferent expression on his face like usual, but he was looking straight at them.

“Go,” Evelyn Jane pleaded in a quiet voice. Shaun nodded with a dissatisfied grunt and let go of her wrist, walking hastily down the corridor away from her. He didn’t acknowledge Franz in the least as he passed. Not many did.


Franz finally moved forward, approaching Evelyn Jane where she stood. She wasn’t sure what to even say. How much had Franz seen?

“He do that to you?” Franz asked and nodded toward her bruised wrist. It was fading but the shadow was still noticeable up close.

“It’s nothing,” she replied and pressed herself against the wall, avoiding eye contact with the tall blond.

Franz crossed his arms, “It’s not my business but…”

She glanced at him, his expression was indifferent as ever.

“You’re not the type of person I expected to tolerate that sort of treatment.”

He continued into the Green Room, leaving her alone in the hallway and she mulled over his words. She shouldn’t tolerate the vile attentions of Shaun Piper but what choice did she have? It wasn’t so easy to stop him. To end their affair would guarantee her name splattered over every tabloid in Kashmire, and even worse, possible exile from her own family.


When she entered the Green Room, she found her brother enthusiastically chattering over a full grand piano. She eyed Franz and he gave her a mildly exasperated look in return.

“Can’t we just move this onto the stage?” Reggie asked, throwing his arm out to gesture at the entire instrument. Evelyn Jane looked doubtfully at the backstage entrance, which seemed too narrow to push the grand piano through.


She instead, emerged on to the stage and called Reggie to her. She thumbed behind her toward the smaller electric keyboard already placed at the center, “This is what you have to play. I told you weeks ago.”

Reggie’s hopeful smile melted into disappointment. His last attempt to avoid playing on an electric keyboard had failed. He trudged back into the Green Room with some mumbles of discontent.


Evelyn Jane took a good look around the theater from the stage side. She wasn’t a nervous performer, having done dozens upon dozens of violin recitals in her life. Her audiences were smaller and more private however. Also Shaun Piper would be watching as a judge and that thought made her stomach twist uncomfortably.

To her right, she saw another band’s set had already been placed. An electric bass, green electric guitar, and drums. All the typical instruments of a rock band. How dull. She casually approached them and bent down over the guitar amp, reached out and turned the knobs into positions they weren’t before. If Shaun Piper was going to screw her over, then the least she could do was still make sure her band would sound the best.

When she returned to the Green Room, she joined Franz and Reggie.

“We’re the first to play,” Reggie told her. She knew that fact, though, she had seen their band listed on the schedule pinned to the board near the entrance. She took a look around to see their competition.

Illyana Sanchez, pedestrian and tacky as ever, was grouped with her own band near a cluster of cushy seats. They were gabbing with some boys who had their backs facing Evelyn Jane, but she figured them be Nick Hart and Orion Loche since Nick was highly identifiable by his shaggy golden brown hair. Orion by his usual black and white ensemble.

Equally identifiable was Cypress Wellington, but she couldn’t see any hint of that mop of jet black hair. That was strange. She knew Cypress was a drummer in Orion’s band yet he wasn’t there. She mentally shrugged to herself because if their drummer didn't show up that was actually better for her. She might be able to win still.

The coordinator called for their band ten minutes before the competition started. He told them to wait to be announced and then take the stage.
Evelyn Jane could hear chatter from the crowd in the theater, it had grown significantly as more and more people arrived. They’d have the privilege to hear something new.


After being announced, she, her brother, and Franz took the stage and began to play.

There was a missing factor, though. For all the times she had played in public, stage presence was important. She was expected to stand still and straight at recitals. Audiences for this kind of concert required something more engaging.

The audience was watching quietly, probably befuddled at the classical music playing before them at a rock show. No one expected that. Evelyn Jane went into her solo, which was quick and required fast finger-work to accomplish and that’s when people started reacting. The longer her solo went on the more cheers she heard until it ended and the entire theater erupted in applause and cheering. Not one of them had ever seen something like it before. She leveled a triumphant stare across the theater straight at Shaun Piper.


He stared back, obviously impressed, but a shadow of a frown was evident too as she saw one of the other judges turn to him and say something.

Franz’s solo drew more cheers, the deep sounds of the bass line provided more rhythm than piano or violin.

She could hear bitterness in every note played from Reggie, like his fingers were being forced to hit the keys. She gave him a vexed look but he wasn’t paying attention. He had taken Alanna’s ‘confession’ harder than she thought. Had he really liked that unimpressive girl so much that he would let her affect him like this? His solo suffered while he had other thoughts on his mind.


When they were done, all three took a bow and were cheered as they left the stage. Good, the audience was capable of appreciating a different genre.

Catering had been brought in and she went to get a plate of food. She could see the other bands’ members eyeing the stringed trio with disbelief. Evelyn Jane smiled to herself as she picked up a roll and put it on her plate.

“I’m leaving the band,” she heard a deep, gravelly voice from behind her. She turned around, slightly startled at seeing that Franz had sneaked up behind her. Well, he probably hadn’t on purpose, he was just so quiet usually that she wouldn’t have known.

She couldn’t read his expression. How could he leave them just like that? She set her plate down and turned to him, “Why?”


Reggie came and stood next to her, having heard Franz’s declaration too. Her brother still looked a tad bit melancholy and had no words in response to Franz’s decision, mostly because his mouth was full with food from the catering table but his expression was that of disdain. Apparently he still felt sore about the whole fight over Alanna.

“I was only in it as a favor to him,” Franz said, nodding toward her brother, “Now we are done playing in the competition. You don’t need me anymore.”
He turned his long body around, in a movement to leave. He wasn’t even going to stay and see if they won? What then? She supposed she could always just hire a double bassist.

“You’re a talented player, Franz. I’m sorry to see you go,” Evelyn Jane said, accepting his resignation but not very happy about it. She realized she rather sounded like her father in that moment. However, unlike her father's indifferent yet appropriate words in that kind of situation, she truly was sorry to see him go. Franz was a sort of constant presence in their lives, though it was subtle and it was difficult to notice he was there until he was gone.

He stopped and a hint of a grin spread across his lips, “Did you know that is the first compliment you’ve ever paid me?”

It was a rhetorical question because he continued on and exited the Green room without another word.

Evelyn Jane racked her brain and couldn’t find any memory of saying ‘good job’ or otherwise in encouraging Franz during the months of practice, even beyond that when they were younger and he was just Reggie’s menacing shadow. To be honest, she had always disliked how low and unimportant he was on the social ladder at school and only tolerated him for Reggie’s sake. But she realized he was right, that it was the first actual compliment she’d ever given to him.

He was the sort of person who would tolerate that kind of treatment, and he had tolerated it for too long. She could understand now why it was so easy for him to leave them.