"What's that Keel?" Haley asked looking over her shoulder.

Surprised, she looked up. Keely hadn't been expecting Haley to show up today, and had already gotten her morning latte. Today she was sitting in the coffee shop area, on one of those amazingly comfortable chairs besides the window.

"This song was stuck in my head," Keely mentioned, she had been doodling on a spare piece of paper.

Immediately, Haley turned the page towards her.

Didn't I make you feel like you were the only man, yeah,

An' didn't I give you nearly everything that a woman possibly can ?

Honey, you know I did!

And each time I tell myself that I, well I've just had enough,

But I'm gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough.

I said come on, come on, come on, come on and take it,

Take another little piece of my heart now, baby,

Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah.

Hey! Have another little piece of my heart now, baby, yeah.

You know you got it if it makes you feel good,

Oh yes indeed.

All right!

You're out on the street looking good, honey,

Deep down in your heart I said you know that it ain't right,

Never never never never never never hear me when I cry at night.

Honey, I cry all the time!

And each time I tell myself that I, well I can't stand the pain,

But when you hold me in your arms, I'll sing it once again.

I'll say come on, come on, come on, come on and take it!

Take another little piece of my heart now, baby.

Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah,

Have another little piece of my heart now, baby, yeah.

You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good hey!

Now all right!

Now come on, come on, come on, come on and take it,

Take another little piece of my heart now, baby.

Break another little bit of my heart, honey, yeah.

Hey! Have another little piece of my heart now, baby,

You know you got it if it makes you feel good.

Hey! Hey! Have another little piece of my heart now, baby,

Break it, break it, break it, yeah.

Have another little piece of my heart now, baby,

You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good.

"What's the song called?" Haley asked, feeling enormously touched.

Pursing her lips, Keely looked out the window where she watched Tony pulling into the school in his parents' car. "It's called Piece Of My Heart, by Janis Joplin."

"I like it," Haley said simply pushing the paper back towards Keely, before smiling brightly trying to ignore the lagging feeling in her stomach. She knew what the girl in that song was feeling. "How does the song go?"

"Ah, I'm not much of singer," Keely grinned picking up her binder before she left.

'K. Staub, you gunna be at the stop?'

Smiling, Keely quickly replied to Joe's text. 'Sorry, got cheer practice. Don't laugh, talk to u later.'

"Do you want to grab sushi tonight?" Haley asked the moment Keely shoved her phone into her pocket while at her locker. She liked to do that, just appear at random moments while Keely was listening to her iPod. It was if she wanted to make her best friend jump.

Just hearing the word sushi made Keely's stomach growl, especially from the fact she had spent her lunch hour in the library studying for an exam that she hadn't bothered to open a book for the night before.

"Sorry," said she, pushing a binder into her locker. Suddenly Haley got a text, and while she was looking down at her cell phone, Keely took the opportunity to slip her songbook from her locker into her side back pack. "Can't go tonight," she finished buckling up her bag neatly as Haley looked up again. "I have one of those very rare riding lessons tonight from Evelyn."

"Okay, you remember cheer practice was cancelled tonight, right?"

Rolling her eyes, Keely laughed. "Of course, if you don't remember, I was the one who cancelled it!"

When they reached the front of the school, Haley said her hasty goodbyes when she noticed her bus door was closing.

And - making a show of it - Keely walked up to her bus and waited until Haley's pulled out of view and then out of the parking lot before she walked incognito like back into the school.

No student in the school actually knew that Keely had seen the inside of the school's music room.

And that was saying something.

Even though she hated it, when you were the girlfriend to the quarterback of the football team and cheer captain, the tiny little things Keely did were broadcasted across the school. But she had always been nifty when it came to going into the music room.

She usually just waited until after school, and until the music teacher packed up for the day and then she would be home free.

The school was an old one, so it had many shortcuts she could take.

Happy that when she peeked in the door it was empty, Keely slipped through the doors and hastily shut the door behind her.

Since she didn't have a keyboard or piano at home, this was all she could practice on. But she had gotten very good at it, and it all came from sitting outside the classroom during her spare and staying after school during phony cheer practices to teach herself how to play.

Keely would never say she was great at playing the piano, but she would call her playing fair.

The walls were sound proof, so she didn't have to worry about staying quiet.

Before Keely played a piano riff or sang a line, she started with scales. It wasn't as if hitting any of notes she played were hard for her to hit, but Keely had come into the practice of doing ten minutes of bars before she started.

After those ten minutes, she was still warming up. And then she did a cover song.

Superman by Five For Fighting.

'I can't stand to fly

I'm not that naive

I'm just out to find

The better part of me

I'm more than a bird, I'm more than a plane

More than some pretty face beside a train

And it's not easy to be me

I wish that I could cry

Fall upon my knees

Find a way to lie

About a home I'll never see

It may sound absurd, but don't be naive

Even heroes have the right to bleed

I may be disturbed, but won't you concede

Even heroes have the right to dream

And it's not easy to be me

Up, up and away, away from me

Well, it's all right, you can all sleep sound tonight

I'm not crazy, or anything

I can't stand to fly

I'm not that naive

Men weren't meant to ride

With clouds between their knees

I'm only a man in a silly red sheet

Digging for kryptonite on this one-way street

Only a man in a funny red sheet

Looking for special things inside of me

Inside of me

Inside me

Yeah, inside me

Inside of me

I'm only a man

In a funny red sheet

I'm only a man

Looking for a dream

I'm only a man

In a funny red sheet

And it's not easy

Its not easy being me

Clapping broke her concentration.

While Keely tried to resurface from her music coma, she wondered vaguely why people insisted on showing up during one of songs. But waiting until the very end to announce their appearance.

"Mr. Summers?" Keely said in amazement seeing the band teacher standing by the doorway. "I thought you were gone for the night."

"I was," he smiled walking towards the computer. "But then I decided that I wanted to work on the bands newest composition tonight and had to turn around in the middle of the freeway to come back and get it." He demonstrated by tapping his finger to the pile of papers on the top of the grand piano.

"Play this," he ordered suddenly putting a sheet of classical music in front of her.

Keely obeyed, she noticed that the song she was to play was from the musical Carmen, and breathed a sigh of relief, she knew this song, she'd practised it too many times to count. It was a passionate number, and Keely couldn't help but get into it as the music intensified.

While she had been playing, Mr. Summers had pulled up a chair beside the piano and watched her playing with a critical eye.

"You've taught yourself how to play, haven't you?" He asked the moment she finished the last bar.

Embarrassed, Keely blushed looking down. Apparently she was good enough to be offered a record deal for her voice and guitar playing, but her piano skills were lacking. "I don't have a piano at home," she admitted ruefully, "So I come here after school and I listened outside of your class during my spare."

"You're very skilled for someone who has had no official training," he decided surprisingly. "So, why, Keely Staub, are you not in my music class?"

"Because it was never really my thing," said Keely evasively. She didn't want to even allow the option of someone knowing she was full of insecurities, fears and worries.

He raised an eyebrow, wandering over towards a guitar. There was a long silence where he started playing a soft song on the acoustic guitar, and Keely could only watch in complete awe as his fingers moved so effortlessly across the strings.

"So you really are the cliche cheerleader?" he asked looking directly into her eyes from across the room.

Keely just scowled at him.

Smiling, he seemed very satisfied with her silent answer and he started strumming peacefully again.

Not realizing this was his ploy, Keely felt the need to let loose the words she had kept in from even Joseph.

"I didn't create what I am," she said in a rush. "It was made around me, just because of who my friends are. I don't like being a cheerleader, I don't like the fact that everyone in the school is fascinated with my life, and I hate the fact that I'm afraid of people hearing me play."

"Are you afraid of people hearing you play or are you afraid that your music will become something else with people listening to it?" he enquired intuitively, yet he was looking down at his hands again.

"I guess the second," Keely murmured.

Smiling again, Mr. Summers placed the guitar back on its stand and leaned back.

"I was the same as you. But without the cheer leading problem," he flashed a suddenly charming smile that seemed to wash away the wrinkles engraved in his skin. "I was afraid of people wanting to change my music into that pop culture crap that is fogging up out radio.

"But then I was offered a record deal..."

Immediately, Keely perked up, this seemed to be going in the direction of advice she desperately needed.

"I wanted to be sure that I wanted to play my music to people for the right reasons. And I was nervous, and kept the owner of the label waiting. Why do you play the music that you do?"

Caught off guard, it took Keely a moment to answer Mr. Summers. "I play it because music isn't background noise to me, not used to shatter the silence. It has helped me through everything that has gone wrong in my life, and seeing a new record gives me that little bit of hope, that maybe that's where I'll find all my answers."

He smiled again, "I came to the same conclusion."

"And what did you do?"

"What are you going to do?" he challenged.

Now Keely could only narrow her eyes, "How do you know about that? I haven't told anybody."

"Once again," he said getting up. "I was like you."

"What should I do?" she changed the question.

He raised an eyebrow, straightening the papers on the top of the piano. "Ask yourself if you can go through your life without music. Could you give it up? Do you want to see that hope you're talking about reflected in someone else's eyes when they listen to your music? And if you decided the answer is yes, come here tomorrow after school, and I'll help you with your playing."

With a cheery goodbye, he left the room.

- I love Mr Summers, don't you? He's awesome XD

So what do you think Keely will do? I don't have much to question about this chapter haha. But she's lying to Joe :O

Well, one of my friends is moving to Toronto tomorrow, seriously, she's getting on the plane in Vancouver. So I had breakfast with her, though who would have thought that a restaurant could possibly screw up waffles? Usually I love waffles... it was so sad.

My dog is currently sleeping on the couch/bed beside me.

She also happens to be snoring very very loudly...

So lovely...

Once again, I have to recommend sleeping to all of you. It's a very nice state of being. Guess what? I'm going to the PNE on Sunday, yay! It's always so much fun. I plan on mocking people a lot plus there's a free concert, and who says no to free music even if I'm not exactly a fan of the Stereos, it's live music, the best thing in the world!

Okay my ramble is done now...