Marcie sat down lightly at the piano bench in the Sunnydale High music room. She rested her fingers on the keys for a second, then began played the song 'Amazed' by Lonestar, and began lightly singing the lyrics.
The nice thing about having Apollo as your father is you tend to be good at music. Marcie could recognize the notes in songs, and then play them. Apollo's children all tended be talented at singing.
About three-quarters of the way through the song, she heard a familiar voice say, "I thought I'd find you here."
Her fingers froze on the keys, and she stopped singing.
"Hey, go on, you sounded great," Lorne said.
Marcie shook her head. "I can't. I don't sing in front of people."
"You just did," he pointed out.
Marcie shot him a look. "I didn't know you were there."
"But you were great."
Marcie shook her head. "I can't." She stood up, and walked out, slipping past Lorne and into the hallway. She hurried along to the library, not wanting to be stopped by anyone.
When she reached the library, she hurried past Giles' office, and into the shelves, hiding between two.
"Marcie, what are you doing?" Giles asked when he found sitting on the ground.
"Sitting."
"Why?"
Marcie shrugged. "'Cause I can."
"Shouldn't you be in class?"
"I've got a spare."
Giles noted the way she was moving her fingers on the ground, as if there were invisible piano keys beneath them. He knew she did that a lot when she was nervous, or upset. Like around a near apoclaypse. Or if she had been arguing with someone.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
"Hmm... Oh, yeah. Fine nothing wrong."
"Are you sure?"
Marcie nodded. "It's just... I can't really sing, or play piano in front of people. I just... Close up. I can't."
"But what about chior? Aren't you in chior?"
"That's... Different. I'm not by myself, you know. I can't when I'm alone. It's wierd."
"I wouldn't think so. You're still singing, are you not?" Giles asked.
Marcie thought about it for awhile. "I geuss. But when I'm by myself, all the attention is onme. Just me. Just Marcie."
Giles sighed, and took his glasses off to clean them. "Marcie, you're still just Marcie when you sing with other people."
"I geuss." Marcie nodded. "Thanks."
Giles didn't really know what he did, but still said "You're welcome."