Disclaimer for all chapters: I own nothing but the plot. All characters and songs belong to Disney.
Summary: Ryan Evans was born to be in the spotlight. Kelsi Nielsen spent her life in the background. Could they turn out to be exactly what the other needs? Much better than it sounds. Ryelsi & other cannon couples. Some Jason bashing.
CHAPTER ONE
She'd never had the best luck in the world, especially when it came to being close to people. Part of that was why she moved to Albuquerque in the first place. Now that she was in a new city, she was a different person. The old Kelsi Nielsen wasn't as quiet and reserved and shy. This Kelsi wasn't taking any chances. This was her new beginning, and she wasn't going to risk messing it up. She had been waiting too long for this chance. She sighed as she sat in her room with her headphones on, listening to music. She was listening to a soft acoustic band, trying to clear her head. Music had always been her sanctuary.
Kelsi's grandmother got her into music. Her grandmother had enrolled her in dance lessons when she was younger, but Kelsi just wasn't meant to be a dancer. She was the one who payed for Kelsi's piano lessons when she was little. She was the one who encouraged Kelsi's talent and who gave Kelsi her first keyboard. Kelsi had always loved going to her grandmother's house to play her baby grand piano. Her parents insisted that music was a waste of time, and while they didn't mind Kelsi having a hobby, they found it ridiculous when she mentioned the idea of wanting to make music her career.
Her grandmother was the only person who really appreciated Kelsi's talent and continued to encourage her. Kelsi soon started to write her own songs, and never had the confidence to perform them in front of anyone but her grandmother. She was her father's mother, but her father hated his mother for reasons that Kelsi never cared to understand. Kelsi was devastated when her grandmother died, but she never gave up on her music. In fact, her grandmother had left Kelsi that beautiful baby grand piano she loved playing so much. It was through playing the piano that she first met Jeremy, her first boyfriend.
Kelsi grew up in Seattle, Washington. She was a generally happy person. She wasn't too social, but she didn't purposefully keep to herself. Jeremy was a year older than her and played the bass guitar. He saw Kelsi sitting alone at lunch one day and decided to join her. After that, he would sit with her every day, and eventually he asked her out. Kelsi said yes, thinking that this boy was amazing. He was nice to her and everything. Well, Kelsi turned out to be dead wrong about her prince charming.
Kelsi's parents also started fighting a lot around the time she started dating Jeremy. When her parents would fight, she would try to escape. Playing piano to drown out the sounds of their arguing only lasted so long. She needed to get out, and so she stumbled upon a small local venue where local bands would play almost every night. This place became Kelsi's second home. Kelsi loved being surrounded by people who loved music, feeling the pulse of the amplifiers through her entire body, standing and dancing and singing until she used every ounce of her energy. She loved the atmosphere, because she was completely engulfed by music. It didn't matter to her which bands were playing. She always loved discovering someone new. Whenever she got upset with her parents' incessant arguing, she would retreat to her new hideout and let the music drown out her worries.
This soon created more worries. Jeremy wanted to know where she kept going and was convinced that Kelsi was cheating on him or sneaking around with other guys. He often accused her of being a groupie who tried to sleep with the bands after the shows. Kelsi was too weak to break up with him, so she dealt with his constant accusations and verbal assaults. How she regretted that now... If she would've known then how much worse it would get, she would have left... wouldn't she?
She knew she had school the next day, but she couldn't seem to fall asleep, even when she tried. She just focused on the music playing through her head, listening to every chord and following every melody until they finally led her into a deep sleep.