-1Can't Be Tamed
Chapter 7: Sing With Me
After heading back to the Palmwoods, then going out to dinner with the boys, Piper went to bed with a certain boy with deep brown eyes on her mind.
"He probably has girls all over him all the time. It's probably just a crush anyway, just a stupid idea from a stupid girl. Plus…that girl at the pool…yeah, this is pointless."
She rolled over on her side, trying to push the boy as far out of her mind as possible as she drifted off to sleep.
The next morning she was woken up by her phone singing.
"Woah oh, woah oh, Woah oh, Come on, shake it up what you got to lose? Go and make your luck with the life you choose. If you want it all, lay it on the line. It's the only life you got, so you gotta live it big time!"
She knew that had to be one of four people. She sighed.
If it were James, she was ignoring it, fearing what was on the other line.
If it were Kendall, it was a reminder to be at the studio.
If it were Carlos, he was asking to hang out.
If it were Logan…she wasn't exactly sure what it would be for. One thing is for sure, she is no where near close to decoding that boy.
She reached for her phone and looked at the caller I.D.
KENDALL K.
She hit the green button and pressed it against her ear, "Hello?"
"Hey Piper, did I wake you up?" Kendall asked.
"Yeah, but it's alright. What's up?" she said sleepily.
"Oh, Gustavo wants us in early because we have to do some video or something." he said, "I didn't really get it all, because that's what I woke up to."
Piper laughed, "Okay, sounds cool, what time?"
"Nine." Kendall replied.
Piper looked at the clock.
8:05
"Oh gosh, I gotta go. I'll see you in the lobby!" she said.
"Okay, see you then." Kendall laughed as he hung up the phone.
"Bye."
Piper hung up the phone and rushed out of bed. She tossed on a pair of soft, fluorescent green cheerleading style shorts that had a picture of two tap shoes and her name embroidered on them. She grabbed a black v-neck t-shirt out of her closet and tossed it on.
"Damn it!" she cursed, trying to put her new haircut up into a pony tail, "Damn Gustavo Rocque and his stupid haircut. Forget it!"
She threw the ponytail holder to the ground and grabbed some clips and pulled her bangs up into a bump on the top of her head, managing with it the best she could. She put on a pair of white knee high socks and her black converse before heading out the door.
She hurried into the Palmwoods lobby and practically collapsed on one of the chairs.
"You okay?"
Piper looked up to see Jo and Camille sitting on a couch adjacent to her, going over material from a script.
"Yeah, I'm good. Late start. Gustavo's going to run me ragged today, but yeah, good." she breathed.
"Are you waiting on the boys?" Jo smiled sweetly.
"Yeah, of course I'm down here before them when they called and had me freaking out thinking I was going to be late." she said.
Jo laughed, "Was it Kendall?"
Piper nodded in response.
"He loves that. Calling at the last second to make sure you're ready is his thing." she said.
"Logan's always so prepared." Camille sighed, "He has everything plugged into his Blackberry."
"And how would you know this?" Piper asked, sitting up in her seat, facing Camille.
"Well…"
Instead of telling Piper about how she hopelessly stalks Logan…she went with another route.
"He showed me." she said, "Yeah, it's cool. Oh, and he showed up to ask me to the school dance on a horse."
"Really?" Piper asked.
"You do realize that horse's head was James and its butt was my boyfriend, right?" Jo said, trying not to laugh.
"Yeah, but it's still a horse." Camille replied.
"Yeah, I guess." Jo said.
Piper bit at her lip, revisiting her thoughts from the night before.
"It's no point in this, stop thinking about him. He's a co-worker anyway, you shouldn't even think he's cute. You do not think he's cute." she thought, "But he is very nice."
"Hello ladies!" Kendall said, walking over to where Jo was sitting.
He sat down on the arm rest and draped her arm across Jo's shoulder, causing her and Camille to erupt with giggles.
Piper smiled. Kendall and Jo were very cute together.
Suddenly a pair of hands blocked her eyes.
"Guess who?"
"I'm going to guess, since Kendall's over there it's either James, Carlos, or Logan."
"I'm in front of you." someone said, sounding irritated.
"That's Logan." she replied.
"Hey Logie." Camille said, standing up to get right beside Logan.
"James move your hands." Piper said.
"You got me." he sighed, moving his hands away from her face.
Piper rolled her eyes. James was cute, but he was so obsessed with himself and seemed so confident he could get her. She so desperately wanted to prove him wrong.
"You guys ready to go?" Logan asked, "I think Kelly's here."
"Yeah, let's go." Carlos said, putting his black helmet on.
"Cool with me." Piper said.
An idea quickly popped in her head, that would either make her look like an idiot or take a turn for the best of her amusement.
She stood up and held her arm out to link arms with Logan, "Come on, let's go."
"Okay." he shrugged, linking arms with her.
Camille let out a disgusted noise as she plopped back down to her seat, putting a satisfied smile on Piper's face…that is, until Carlos grabbed her other arm.
"Are we off to see the Wizard?" he asked with a big grin.
"You gonna ask him for a brain, Scarecrow?" she asked sarcastically.
"So does this make me Dorothy?" Logan asked, a mischievous smile coming across his face, making his dimples stand out.
"Why?" she replied.
"Because, if he's the Scarecrow, you're obviously the Tin Man, asking for a heart." he smiled.
Piper's face fell as Logan burst out laughing, and Camille followed, completely ruining her plan.
"I hope you know I will NEVER watch that movie again!" she spat, dropping Carlos' arm.
She crossed her arms over her chest and walked out of the Palmwoods. She swung the car door open and slid in beside Kendall and slammed the door.
"What happened to you?" Kendall asked.
"Logan's an idiot!" she huffed.
"What'd he do?" James said, sounding hopeful.
Piper glared in his direction, "Nothing, I don't want to talk about it."
Suddenly, the car door opened and Carlos slid in with Logan behind him, shutting the door.
"Piper, come on." Logan said, still breathless from laughing, as the car pulled off.
"I will not come on! That was so rude, and in front of those girls!" she exclaimed.
"It was funny!" he said, "You know I was just joking."
"I don't care. We aren't having this conversation." she said, putting her palm up to his face.
"So now I'm supposed to 'talk to the hand', really?" he asked.
Piper moved her hand and crossed her arms back over the chest. She stared out the side window, watching palm tree after palm tree pass and hotel after building. She noticed Kendall pulling out his phone, but ignored it, figuring he was texting Jo. She was wrong.
Dude, what did you say to her?- K.K.
She linked arms with me and then told me to go with her to the car. Carlos started singing Wizard of Oz. She called him brainless. I made a comment about her being like the Tin Man (no heart), and she got really mad! I thought it was funny.- Logan
Hahahahahahahahahaha! You did not, man!- K.K.
Yeah, I did. Was it completely stupid?- Logan
Duh.- K.K.
Great. Now what?- Logan
When we get there, apologize, beg her forgiveness. - K.K.
What if she doesn't accept it?- Logan
She'll come around.- K.K.
Seriously?- Logan
I'm your best friend, would I lie to you?- K.K.
No.- Logan
Exactly.- K.K.
What's with her and Camille by the way?- K.K.
Huh?- Logan
Jo said she noticed there was some serious tension between the two and they haven't even really been around each other.- K.K.
I really don't know. I sensed it too, the way they looked at each other this morning.- Logan
Hmm. Maybe Piper wants a piece of Logie? Hahahahaha!- K.K.
Shut up! Like that would happen!- Logan
Never know….; ) - K.K.
Logan put his phone away with an eye roll. He loved Kendall like a brother, but his stupidity really bothered him sometimes. Like Piper Holliday would want him as more than a friend. She's had some of Hollywood's best, or so Logan had heard. It was no way Kendall was right.
They arrived at Rocque Records a few minutes later. After they got out of the car, Kelly began to usher them into the building. Logan rushed up beside Piper, who, after noticing his presence, turned and began talking to Carlos.
"So Carlos, are you excited about the duet?" she asked loudly, masking whatever Logan could possibly say.
"Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun!" he said, "I hope we do it first though. I won't make it after dance rehearsal."
"Piper, listen." Logan begged.
Suddenly, Piper turned to face Logan.
"When you have the courage to tell me that you messed up and you're sorry, and not just beg, than I might listen to you, Cowardly Lion!" she spat.
"I shouldn't have started the Oz thing." he shook his head as Kendall put his hand on his shoulder.
"Once again," he began, "You really screwed up."
"I know. I don't want to talk about it." Logan said, as he tried to catch up with Piper again.
"Piper, look, I messed up. I shouldn't have called you heartless. You most certainly have a heart or you wouldn't be alive right now. Anyway, yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Please forgive me." he said.
Piper turned and looked at him, "Fine. You owe me though for all the heartache and anger you've put me through."
"As long as it's not monetary, we're all good." he replied.
"Non-monetary works for me." she smiled.
"Say the word and I'm yours." he said.
"I'll remember that." she smiled mischievously as she walked ahead of the group into the recording studio.
"She's got him trapped." Carlos said.
"How?" Kendall asked.
"He's so into her and she either knows and is stringing him along for all he's worth, or she's equally into him." Carlos replied.
"How do you know these things?" He asked.
"I read one of those magazines your mom picked up with our pictures on the front, you know, PopTiger." Carlos said.
"You actually read that?" Kendall asked, completely freaked out, "Dude, that's for girls."
"I got bored, okay! Gosh! It was storming out and your mom wouldn't let me cut on the HD TV or the computer! I couldn't help it!" He frowned, hanging his head.
"Whatever, man." Kendall said, following him into the studio.
"Alright dogs, and dogette, today we will be figuring out your duet today and Piper will be recording for her brand spankin' new album." Gustavo said.
"Cool." Kendall said, "What 'cha got for us Gustavo?"
"For your duet, we have three remixes of your songs that have been edited for a duet. "Big Time Rush", "Famous", or "Halfway There"." he said.
""Okay, so we have to try your song today because a video guy is coming to record you in the studio at noon where we can put this video as a promo for your tour." Kelly said.
"Wait, so we have to learn all of it today?" Carlos gasped.
"Carlos, it's your own song, but with me added in. Plus, you've already recorded this remix, that I can understand." Piper replied.
"Oh, well, I guess." He responded.
"Studio, NOW!" Gustavo yelled, causing the group to jump a little.
When they got in the studio, Gustavo wasted no time in handing out sheet music and shouting out orders, as usual.
"Piper in the middle, dogs on the outside. Two on both sides. I should NOT hear tons of dogs and not enough dogette." he said.
They followed the orders and walked over behind the microphones and put the headphones on their heads.
Gustavo's voice poured through the speakers in the studio, "Do 'Big Time Rush' first! Follow the sheet music and DON'T SCREW THIS UP! WE'RE ON A TIME SCHEDULE!"
There was a drum click that played three times before they were supposed to start the song.
For some reason, Piper felt extremely awkward singing this song. She felt as if she didn't belong on the track because it was named after the boys.
Hey! Hey!
Listen to your heart now
She sang into the mic, a frown on her face.
Hey! (Ooh) Hey! (Ooh)
Dont cha feel the rush?
Logan followed after her. Suddenly, the track stopped.
"That was AWFUL!" Gustavo shouted, "Moving on, let's do 'Halfway There', this better be better."
Kelly walked into the sound studio and handed out the music. Piper looked it over. She had Carlos' solo in the first verse, and then she had runs all in the choruses, and what she saw next made her heart skip a few beats. She was singing with Logan in the bridge, just her and Logan.
"Hey, check this out." Logan said, nudging her in the arm, "You're backing up my bridge."
Piper smiled, "Yeah, I saw that. Pretty cool, huh?"
"I like this one and I haven't even heard it all together yet." Kendall said, putting his headphones back on, "Let's do it!"
A new beat to the song Piper knew so well began to play and James began to do one of his song intros.
"Yeah, BTR, Piper Holliday…we're halfway there." He said into the microphone slowly.
When the chips are down
Back against the wall
Gotten more to give
Cause we gave it all
seems like going the distance is unrealistic
But we're too far from the start
Kendall pointed over to Piper at the end of his verses and nodded. She nodded back and put both earphones to her ears and began to sing, nodding her head to the infectious beat.
So we take what comes and we keep on going
Leaning on each others shoulder
Then we turn around
And see we come so far somehow
We're halfway there
Piper then noticed that the next line was hers, after overlooking it the first time.
We're Looking good now
Nothing is going get in the way
We're halfway there
"Halfway there" Piper sang, backing up James, like the sheet said.
Looking back now
I Never thought I'd ever say
We're Halfway there
If you never flew,
We would never fall
If the world was ours,
We would have it all
But the life we live
Isn't so simplistic
You just don't get what you want
So we take what comes
And we keep on going
Leaning on each others shoulder
Then we turn around
And see we've come so far somehow
As she listened to James and Logan sing, all she could picture was the big stage all lit up with thousands of people in front of them, holding up posters and glow sticks singing along with them as they danced and pumped up the crowd.
We're halfway there
We're looking good now
Nothing is going get in the way
We're halfway there
Looking back now
I Never thought I ever say
We're halfway there
We're halfway there
Oh, the moment had arrived. Piper looked over at Logan and smiled as they began to sing together.
Are you ever gonna reach the stars?
If you never get off the ground.
And you'll always be where you are if you let life knock you down.
They looked into each other's eyes the entire time the verse played on until James' voice poured through again.
We're halfway there
We're looking good now
Nothing is going get in the way
We're halfway there
Looking back now
I Never thought I ever say
"We're halfway there" James sang.
"We're halfway there" Kendall followed.
"We're halfway there" Carlos came behind the other two.
"We're halfway there" Logan sang.
"We're halfway there" Piper sang, putting an extra run on the end of the word "there", similar to what she knew Carlos did on the original track.
"We're halfway there" they all sang at once, and then burst into cheers and clapping.
They patiently awaited Gustavo's gesture for them to talk. He gave them a thumbs up, and then they took the headphones off and cheered again.
"That was amazing!" Piper smiled.
"Dude, I'd never heard that song done better." Kendall said, "Like, I thought we had it, but that was great!"
"Great job, gang!" Kelly came in over the speakers.
"That's a wrap for dogs and Piper, now follow Kelly to get ready for the quickie video shoot, we'll use the track we just did." he said.
"And the day gets crazier." Logan said in a sing-song voice, jogging in place.
Piper laughed, nudging him as they went out the door.
"I thought you weren't talking to me." He said.
"I wasn't," she said, "but we sounded so beast together, I thought I would have to tell you that, so, that's why I'm talking to you."
Logan laughed, "Our harmony was pretty tight, wasn't it?"
Piper nodded, "I thought me and James were off. He didn't even catch it, it's going to sound horrible!"
"It must have been in your head." Logan said, "Gustavo would have caught it and yelled, trust me."
"True." Piper nodded.
"Piper, to the right. BTR to the left." Kelly gestured, sending them in a room with a bunch of stylists and makeup artists.
After being pushed and shoved and pulled and prodded for what seemed like forever, Piper walked back into the studio wearing a baby pink tank top with a chunky layered necklace, a black high waist banded skirt that had ruffles on the bottom and short black boots. Her hair was curled in ringlets at the bottom and the majority of her makeup actually got left alone.
"Where are the guys?" Piper asked Kelly.
"If they're being held up, it's by James. I'll bet you that. He's complaining about his hair or clothes. I'll go check on them."
Within minutes, Kelly dragged the boys, in completely different outfits, back into the studio. She was right, James complained about his clothes not matching right as he picked up the new silver headphones that had been put in the place of the ratty black ones they had been using.
"Let's get this done, NOW!"
After shooting the video, then changing again, then dance rehearsal and recording, Piper and the boys got in the car to go back to the Palmwoods around dark.
"Hey, when we get back," she began. She dug down in her purse and grabbed a plastic CD case and pulled it out, "Anyone want to listen to the first five raw tracks from my album?"
"Oh my gosh," Kendall reached over, "that's so cool."
She handed him the case. He scanned over it and then read the tracks out loud, "Track one, 'Headstrong'. Track two, 'Can't Be Tamed'. Track three, 'Detention'."
"Story of James' life?" Carlos asked with a laugh.
"Shut up!" James responded, shaking his head.
"Okay, track four is 'Come Clean', and track five, which is my personal favorite, 'Halfway There' featuring Big Time Rush." Kendall smiled, "Sounds awesome."
"What's your album going to be called?" Logan asked.
"We're looking at all the songs, since I already had a self-titled and it's either going to be 'Can't Be Tamed', 'Headstrong', or 'Battlefield'. We haven't gotten done with 'Battlefield' yet. We're still lacking two of ten songs that Gustavo has already gotten for me. He either has to write them or I have to, and I've got no inspiration because all the songs he's written are about my previous lifestyle, and that's what all my notebook songs are about." she said, "You can't make an album of apologies."
"I guess you're right. Hey, maybe something will inspire you." Logan said.
"Or someone." James hinted, raising his eyebrows towards her.
"I think I might have something in mind." she smiled as the car rolled into the Palmwoods.
Songs mentioned in this chapter-
* Big Time Rush by Big Time Rush
* Famous by Big Time Rush
* Halfway There by Big Time Rush
* Can't be Tamed by Miley Cyrus
* Headstrong by Ashley Tisdale
* Detention by the School Girls
* Come Clean by Hilary Duff
* Battlefield by Jordin Sparks
