Sing for me

By Claudia Piano

Sara has a passion: singing. It is a secret dream, because a past experience has traumatized her and now she is terrified of performing. So Sara hides her "singing" heart in herself. She calls him Cip, a little bird that she imagines to have instead of the heart, that flies, skips and sings with her. Summer is over and Sara is enthusiastic: she is about to start her fourth year at the Liceo Musicale Pertini in Genoa; she will see her companions again and resume lessons. She is not a nerd, but she likes studying, it makes her feel good. Well, maybe she really a nerd. She loves to test herself, learn new things, but she has always shared her gift with her companions, helping them, sometimes letting them take advantage of her good heart.

The return to school, however, brings unexpected news. Her best friend Sonia is detached and surly. She seems to be angry with her and never misses a chance to ridicule her in front of her companions. What happened to her? Fabio, the most beautiful boy in the class, defends Sara. Who knows, maybe he needs help with the study? The singing teacher decided to stage a musical: "Beauty and the Beast". Will he convince Sara to participate?

This new novel, as you can guess from the title, talks about music and is set in a school, but not in Armonia. A royal school in Genoa: the Liceo Musicale Sandro Pertini. It is a tribute to the boys who accompany me during the presentations and to their professor who has repeatedly expressed the desire that their school appear in one of my novels. It's a training novel, it talks about dreams, fears, friendship and, of course, love.

Enjoy the reading : )
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: May 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781547583829

Book preview

Summary

Credits

Summary

The plot

Chapter 1 - The return

Chapter 2 - Messages

Chapter 3 - I want to study with you

Chapter 4 - Bodyguard

Chapter 5 - Changes

Chapter 6 - Preparations

Chapter 7 - Halloween

Chapter 8 - The audition

Chapter 9 - The Christmas concert

Chapter 10 - Secrets

Chapter 11 - Jealousy

Chapter 12 - Openings

Chapter 13 - Prince or Beast?

Chapter 14 - Abandonments

Chapter 15 - Being an artist

Chapter 16 - Going onstage

Thanks

Biography

Contacts

The plot

Sara has a passion: singing. It’s a secret dream, because a past experience had traumatized her and now, she’s afraid of performing.

So, Sara hides inside her singing heart. She calls it Cip, a bird which she imagines to have instead of her heart, that flies, jumps and sings with her.

Summer is over and Sara is enthusiastic: the fourth year of Music Highschool Pertini from Genova is about to start; she will see her classmates again and lessons were about to start again. She’s not a nerd, but she likes studying, it makes her feel good. Well, maybe she really is a nerd. She likes challenging herself, learning new things, but she has always shared her gift with her classmates, helping them, sometimes letting them take advantage of her good heart.

But, the re-entry to school brings unexpected news.

Her best friend Sonia is aloof and grumpy. It seems she is angry with her and doesn’t lose the opportunity to embarrass her in front of her classmates. What happened to her?

Fabio, the most handsome boy of the class, takes Sara’s side. Who knows, maybe he needs help with study?

The singing teacher has decided to stage a musical: Beauty and the Beast. Will she manage to convince Sara to take part?

To dreams,

and to those

who never stop

dreaming.

Chapter 1 - The return

I got off the train surrounded by the sea of students and workers that flowed into Brignole Square. Many bodies, many faces, all apparently similar, like part of a sole existence which swarmed: without any personality. Alienated in a sole migratory movement: from the station towards the bus stop.

I felt like a tiny colored dot in a grey sea. It seemed to me that I was the only one who had a different consciousness from the mass. It was always so. Like I was the only one thinking, observing and who was really there. Others tended to mix in the crowd, trying to disappear, while I... was myself.

Why?

Because I had a singing heart and I was convinced that this would've made me different from the others.

Better? Maybe not, but more sensitive and mindful of emotions.

I had a slight cardiac malformation which was diagnosed at birth. Nothing severe, the doctors always reassured us. I just had to take some more exams than other kids and couldn't do competitive sports.

I had a very normal life, but, sometimes, my heart took flight and my mother told me Cip's story, the singing heart.

I imagined my heart as a small bird which sometimes hopped, flapped its wings trying to fly and loved singing with me.

This had helped me to not be afraid and, even if the congenital flaw would've fixed itself with growth, I hadn't stopped being extra attentive at my emotions and that of others.

Barbara walked at my side silently as ever, while there was no trace of Sonia. She had sent me a message: I missed the train, I'm coming by subway.

I shrugged.

A classic. She’s always late, even on the first day of school.

Summer had past faster than usual. I was used to it, in the past years, to the slow drag of the long days.

It was a very stimulating initiative to make time fly faster: a singing school for children. The teacher, Liliana Belli convinced me to help her teach. An interesting alternation of school-work which provided me with a good dose of extra credits.

It was exciting to share my passion for singing with those children. I knew that Belli hoped I would unwind, because I...well, I’ve never sang in public before. Not after that time.

«Hey Sara, did you spend the holidays well?»

That was Marco. He was breathless, surely, he had run to reach us.

I forced a smile.

Is it possible that, amongst all my classmates, I had to meet him first?

Not that he was unpleasant, but...Well, see, he was a bit clingy.

Marco adjusted his glasses and ran a hand through his hair.

Greasy.

He was quite well-off, also fat to say the least, a round and ordinary face. But above all he was persistent. He had a crush on me ever since the first time and I couldn’t shake him off.

«What luck to meet, right?»

Yeah, sure.

I turned towards Barbara and saw her giggling.

Thanks, what a friend.

«Simoni isn’t here, right?» He looked around alarmed, looking for Sonia.

I shook my head and he sighed in relief.

If she were here, she would’ve chased him away with one of her jokes. She wasn’t very diplomatic. She knew I didn’t love having him around and she chased him away, without mercy.

I loved her for this. And not just that. She was my best friend. We were different, sure, but, maybe because of that, I felt good with her. She always had what I was missing: that pinch of extra courage, that insolence which I couldn’t dare to have; in a way she completed me.

Barbara too, she was my friend from the start, but we had a different relationship, calmer, reassuring.

Sonia was a volcano. She dragged me with her energy and I felt I needed her.

But since she came back from vacation with her parents, we couldn’t even manage to see each other once. I had hoped to talk a bit that morning, but...nothing.

Oh well. From today onwards we will see each other daily.

The bus arrived and fortunately I managed to get away from Marco and to sink back into my thoughts.

I thought back on singing. Belli had anticipated that we would stage a musical, none other than: Beauty and the Beast.

Damn, I’d love to participate as well, I’d really like that.

I had seen the cartoon at least a thousand times and I already knew Belle’s part completely, I sang it continuously.

But that was exclusively when I was alone in my room.

I’d never have the guts to perform, maybe I could’ve audition, but with closed doors, sealed, nothing more.

I saw Valeria coming with her followers. The showgirls of the class, like Sonia said. They greeted me with exaggerated smiles.

Oh, I wasn’t part of their group, I wasn’t amongst the beautiful people. But they treated me kindly because I had helped them in past years. Suggestions, study groups... I was like that, I liked helping my classmates. I knew that most of them took advantage of me, but I didn’t care. It didn’t cost me anything, I would’ve felt worse being the supported one and surely, I would’ve been hated by everyone, like Angela Antiochi.

Speak of the devil...

«Hi SSSara.»

Yes, she stuttered a bit when she talked, like a sneaky and merciless snake.

I was convinced that there was an extreme rivalry between us. She always competed against me, she wanted to know my grades and when I had a higher one -very often, truthfully- her gaze sharpened behind her glasses. She would’ve surely incinerated me if she could. But I wasn’t competitive, I just did my best. If there was a race, for me, it was just the one against myself.

I turned towards the window. The sea shined reflecting thousands of the sun’s reflections, it was a magnificent day.

I considered myself lucky. Every morning, before arriving at school, I could admire this huge blue mass. It was a nice way to start the day. But nobody seemed to notice that.

A warm laugh caught my attention, and not just mine. Fabio got on. Fabio Campioni. The name said it all.

I sighed.

Damn.

He was the most handsome and my Cip flapped its wings, agitated.

Fabio was part of our past year’s class, because he had failed.

So, he was older than us. Taller, more muscular, more...everything.

He was rapidly surrounded by Valeria&Company who started laughing like squawking geese.

He lifted his gaze and for a moment it crossed with mine. He smiled at me and Cip almost took flight.

Why is he here? What is the god of beauty doing amongst us mortals? Why isn’t he at Hollywood doing movies?

Blue eyes, light hair, slightly wavy, an alluding smile, broad shoulders...

He was Kevin Costner’s double, way before Dance with wolves.

Yes, my mother was fixated with him. She even said dad looked like him in his younger years, but...she worked a lot with fantasy. I mean, I adored dad, for me he was very handsome and very sweet, but I couldn’t grasp the resemblance.

She gave me the entire filmography and Kevin became the ultimate beauty, the comparison term. And Fabio really looked alike.

He smiled at me.

Oh for crying out loud.

He waved at me and I lowered my gaze.

Was I rude?

Maybe so, but I didn’t want anything to do with him.

Too handsome, too destabilizing.

During the past year I had talked a few times with him, I had found him smart and gentle. He almost looked unaware of his beauty and the effect his presence had on us poor and insignificant mortal ladies.

I turned around and found myself facing Marco.

Bleh. What a shock.

Finally, the bus reached the school.

I smiled to myself.

I stretched my neck to look for Sonia but I didn’t see her anywhere.

I wrote her a message: "We’re at school, where are you?"

We crossed the gate and went into the courtyard full of teens gathered in groups.

The crowd took a different tone from grey, more diverse. Of course, there were upset faces from the earliness, maybe they had passed their vacation sleeping till eleven AM! Anyway, there was a certain liveliness, everybody talked and waved and laughed.

A beautiful energy.

At that moment the janitor opened up the gate and the flood of students started walking, dragging me towards the entrance.

I managed to take a peak at the classroom plan.

Where’s our class? First floor, half corridor.

It was the chairmanship floor but also the singing classroom floor.

Well, not bad.

At least we had few stairs to climb. In third grade we were at the fourth floor: terrible!

I took the phone to silence it and meanwhile I checked it: no message from Sonia.

We didn’t even agree on the seating, but it was three years that we always sat in the first two desks next to the window. Me and Barbara in front and her behind, that way she could peak better and if she was sleepy she could hide behind me.

I smiled.