She Speaks Fear and Truth

[Alisha]

Aeryn walked down the darkened streets, heading to the coffee shop that hosted open mic nights every thursday. They hadn't cut her out yet, so must have still had her touch. Her guitar case thumped lightly against her back with every step she took. Soon, she was walking into the coffee shop, there was a larger crowd than usual, most likely because it was thursday. She looked up at the small stage, and smiled when she saw Mike on stage, sometimes she did jam sessions with him to warm up. When he finished, it was her turn to go onstage. She was so glad for these nights, she had started them when she began working here a few years ago. It was the only connection she had with music outside the comfort of her home.

When she sat on the stool in front of the mic stand, Aeryn took her acoustic guitar out of it's case. She ran her hand along the glossy finish and looked out to the small crowd. She cleared her throat, and situated the guitar on her leg. "Some of you have heard me sing before," She told the group, the english accent noticeable. "For those of you that have not, I'm Aeryn." She smiled, adjusting the microphone and playing a few chords to make sure her guitar was in tune. "Tonight, I'm going to sing an original for you. It's called Reverse. I hope you enjoy it." She smiled again, and began to play. She sung, he voice soft then building after the first few lines. Her soprano voice grew in power, and she closed her eyes as she sung the chorus,
"And I hope someday this will all reverse,
And send us back to the times before.
Before we grew up and lost the novelty of,
Clear blue skies and climbing trees.
Can't you see what our lies have come to be?
Can't you see what our lies have come to be?" She sang through the rest of the song, frowning softly at the end. She nodded as the claps filtered to her ears, and packed up her things. She stepped back up to the microphone, "Thank you for listening everyone. The was Reverse, and have a good night." She said, and pulled the guitar strap over her head. She jumped to the ground, which was only about two feet lower than the stage, and turned to walk out of the shop.

[Tori]

David had been sitting in the back of the shop since the beginning of the open mic show, like he usually does, every Thursday of every week. He kept his guitar close to him in the booth he was sitting at, sipping on his usual Frappuccino he held in his hands, clapping after each performer had done their part. Just as he took another sip though, a girl had come up on stage. He had seen her around the music areas before, but never really noticed her until she started singing tonight. "Whoa..." his mouth dropped, leaning in more over the table, listening more attentively to the sound of her vocals, and how she carefully played the chords on her guitar.

After she had finished, David let out his usual applause for her, nothing special, just his usual clapping routine, not wanting to give anyone any special attention or whatnot. She repeated her name to himself, trying to have it stick to his head before he got up from his seat, swinging his guitar back around him as he approached the girl leaving the shop. "Excuse me? Aeryn?" he called out her name, managing to catch up to her, tapping her shoulder to get her attention in case she hadn't heard him. "Um, sorry for interrupting, and I know you've been given numerous compliments and all, but you really are an amazing singer, and I was just wondering if, you'd be at all interested in being a part of my band?" he asked, almost all at once. He only hoped he hadn't spoken too fast for her to not understand. He was just so anxious, since he was a kid, since his father first gave him his guitar, he has always wanted to start a band, but just didn't know how to.

[Alisha]

Aeryn stood, half out of the door staring at the man before her in surprise. Her eyes widened when he asked her if she wanted to be a part of his band. She never thought she would be asked that question again, and was taken off guard. She didn't think she was ready to experience it again, she was terrified of failure. Being dropped from the band she helped make it had been pretty crushing, not to mention traumatizing. "Um... I," She began, unable to form a coherent thought. "I kind of don't do that anymore." She said softly, looking away and back again. "Sorry," Aeryn muttered, and walked slowly away from the shop. She cursed herself for being so cautious, but she had no other choice. Who knew, that could have been a good thing for her. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She shook her head back and forth.

[Tori]

From the start of her sentence, David could of swore she was going to say yes. But all of a sudden, it was like a bolt of lightning came and struck David on top of the head. As he watched the girl slowly walk away from him, all that came to his mind was, "Ouch." he would of thought she would of at least thought about it some more, or at least said 'thank you for the opportunity'. She didn't have to go and slam the door in his face. Not giving up so easily, as he normally was with his love for music, he quickly chased after the girl who had turned him down, luckily to see that she hadn't gone too far. "Wait!" he called out, running out in front of her, with his guitar banging against his back with every running step he took. "I was just wondering...what do you mean you don't do that anymore?" he asked, more curious than ever. David just couldn't understand why someone that good at singing, let alone someone who seemed to love it so much not want to go further with it, such as being in a band or at least traveling to other places, solo. "I mean, you're voice is awesome, and from the way you acted on that stage, it sounded like you really loved it up there. You don't have to answer, but I guess I just don't understand why someone so talented like yourself wouldn't want to go further in life than just, open mic nights."

[Alisha]

Aeryn stopped, turning to him. She listened to what he had to say, and was slightly thankful that he decided to pressure her into joining him. It was what she really wanted, to be in a band again, she loved the feeling of being on stage with her friends. Her expression turned sour when he mentioned that she wouldn't want to be out spreading her music to the world. She would, in fact there was no other thing she would rather be doing. "Thank you for the compliment," She began, trying to keep her voice calm, she knew it wasn't his fault. He didn't know what had happened to her. She found it hard though, when she began to speak again. "You don't know a thing about what I want." She spilled out, still watching him. "I don't do that anymore because I cant." Or haven't been able to until now... "As you can probably tell, I'm English. But what you don't know is that I was once in a band, and they threw me away. So, you can see how I would be skeptical about joining another band." Her voice had become soft at the end of her rant. She looked away, and back again. "So, yes, I may be stuck doing open mic nights at a coffee shop, in a small town. But, it's safe." She sighed, wondering if she should be choosing her solitary life, rather than taking a chance with a complete stranger.

[Tori]

He nodded at first, glad to see that she at least thanked him for at least one compliment, instead of ignoring it. He hated it when people did nothing about any sort of compliments they may have gotten. He listened to the rest of her story then, even if it wasn't her whole story, David still listened just as attentively, as if understanding where she was coming from. "I see." he started. "I mean, I understand what you're saying. You want to show off your voice, but in the safer route. And I appreciate that. At least you're brave enough to come out to this small of a crowd to perform your talent amongst the town." he paused, biting his lip before finishing his sentence. "I am glad you told me this. I was just hoping you would give it a second chance. I mean, from what I've heard, Riverside is a much safer town than any other place. And..well, just know that you can trust me. And from what I heard today, I wouldn't kick you out even if someone blackmailed me to do so." he finished off finally, wiping his hair out of his face, giving her a final glance and small smile before turning his back to her, walking away, wondering if there were anyone else out there willing to be part of his band.

[Alisha]

When David walked away from her, Aeryn panicked. It felt wrong somehow, to leave herself so undecided. She was still so closed off, but she had hoped to make some progress, and learn to trust others without automatically thinking they would try to ruin her. "Wait!" she called after him, jogging toasted his retreating form. When she reached him, she gave an embarrassed smile. "Uh, I'd love too... Join your band that is. If you'll still have me." Aeryn watched him nervously, really hoping this wouldn't turn Back around and bite her. She hoped that she could trust him. But most of all, se hoped that this would work out.

[Tori]

David was actually heading back into the coffee shop, seeing if he could at least get up on stage to do a simple song. But was soon stopped before he could set foot back into the shop by none other than Aeryn herself. Spinning himself back around to face her again with another straight face of his, he let out a small grin. He was finally glad to know that she could at least hope that she could trust him. And hopefully later, maybe she'll learn to know how trustworthy he can be, and how he's not the kind of guy to just throw someone away, no matter what or how great their talent is. "Of course I'll still have you. I mean, you know, in my band, er, our band that is." he chuckled, shrugging his guitar back behind his back as it was beginning to slide to his front side again. "But since we kind of need to get to know each other more, would you mind coming back in the shop with me, and listen to what I have to offer? You may be surprised by what talents I have." he practically urged her, but in a playful way.

[Alisha]

Aeryn smiled, glad to hear that the offer was still on the table. She was a tad skeptical about going back inside, but she knew she would have to put herself out there in order to make any progress. "Sure," She said with a nod, "Let's see what you can do." She laughed before saying, "Who knows, I could have just agreed to join a band with someone who is a complete imbecile." She joked with him, a teasing smile on her face, "I'm joking." At least she hoped she was joking...

[Tori]

David simply laughed at her teases towards him. "Oh, well I sure hope I'm not an imbecile to you then." he teased right back, leading her back into the shop, heading his way towards the stage after another performer had just recently finished. Stepping up on the stage, David wasn't feeling nervous at all, unlike some of the other people out there who normally did, and got butterflies for it. It was like David was born to be up on stage in front of a huge crowd. He swung his guitar back to his front side, adjusting the mic to his height of where he was sitting on the stool. "Hey, everybody," he cleared his throat as he spoke into the microphone, "For those of you who don't know me, and I'm sure most of you already do, my name is David and today I'm going to play one of my newer songs that I just recently finished writing. It's called, Every Breath." he cleared his throat once more before strumming the strings making sure it was tuned correctly, before beginning the first part of the melody, and then the words soon after.

[Alisha]

Though Molly was teasing about the imbecile thing, when he got onto stage she let out a smile. It felt like he was meant to be there. That's what it felt like for her, when she got the opportunity to be on stage, but she hoped others thought that too. The only thing she had ever ever worked for had been thrown down the drain. Guitar and singing had come naturally to her, they had told her she was born to do it. Maybe she was, and this was her real chance. When David made his way off stage, she clapped. "You certainly have an entrancing voice," She said to him with a smile, wondering why she had never seen him here before. Most likely because she hightailed it out of there as soon as she could.

[Tori]

After standing up and taking a small bow for the audience and their applause, David let out a quick, "Thank you" before skipping down the steps back towards where Aeryn was watching him. He smiled and nodded at her comment towards his playing, thankful to hear those words come from such a talent such as herself. "Thank you." he repeated again, but strictly to her this time. "Glad you enjoyed it." he smiled still, can't help but imagining the future he could be holding with Aeryn's singing, and possibly a few other band members by his side. They could become famous! Of course, this was all in David's head. He had quite the imagination, so he's been told.

[Alisha]

Aeryn just smiled and crossed her arms across her chest. "So," She asked with a smile, "Let's talk business?" She nodded towards en empty table a few feet away and turned to walk towards it, sliding into the booth. She slipped the strap to her guitar case over her head, setting the guitar on the seat next to her. She wanted to hear what his band entailed, if there was even a band yet. She kind of hoped there wan't anyone else yet, because she would have like to help form the band. If there were other members, she hoped they wouldn't be angry David had asked her to join without their consent.

[Tori]

David nodded, heading over to the table she was headed towards, also removing his guitar from around him before taking a seat. Also setting his guitar in the seat beside him, David got more comfortable in his seat by folding his arms over the top of the table, getting more intrigued in the future conversation they held. "So.." he started out, "I was thinking, we could hold auditions somewhere good, like in the concert hall or something. Seeing as we're the first two people in the band and all. Oh, and we'll also need to come up with a band name too.." he shrugged towards the end. "I could never come up with a band name on my own...that is, without the consent of another band member." he grinned, referencing over to her.

[Alisha]

Aeryn nodded, that sounded like a good idea. They wanted people that would remain dedicated to the band, and that were at least semi professional when it came to music. She smiled, glad to have her career actually going somewhere. "So, what do we need? Drummer and bassist?" She asked, she didn't know who else he wanted to add to the band. She frowned slightly at the daunting task of naming the band, half the time it took ages and there were usually fights. And, if they ever got signed, the record label would probably want to change the name and replace members. That was how the business was, it was a feirce world and you always had to be on your toes, she had learned that the hard way. "Hmmm..." She said, "Naming is probably going to be extremely complicated."