Chapter 1

"Get out!" A large fat man screamed at the top of his lungs. "Get out and do not ever show your face here again."

Jacob stared at the fat man, the veins on the fat man's forehead bulged and his face was crimson red. "For what reason?" Jacob tried to ask.

"Security." The fat man shouted without responding to Jacob's inquiry.

With a sigh, Jacob didn't wait for security to arrive and left on his own. As he left the building, a thought floated through his mind, why has every production agency turned his songs down and chased him out? Is his music so bad that they won't even bother to listen to it or is it that they just don't have any taste in music?

This had been the sixth attempt to have his songs published, but once again, it was rejected as soon as they saw the music sheet. "What the hell is wrong with this world!" Jacob shouted into the sky, his voice sounding out with the anguish of an unrecognized artist. "Are my thoughts and feelings not enough? Am I the problem?" His voice slowly lowered as he became quiet, tears flowing down his weather worn, sun baked cheeks.

"Am I… just that useless?" He asked himself, ignoring the eyes that seemed to penetrate his very being.

Jacob stood in place for a moment before wiping the tears away. "No point in pondering on it." Jacob said as he began to make his way home. "Even if the studios gave the green light, my song would never be chosen by a singer."

Jacob was so immersed in his self loathing that he didn't even realize he was home until he had to take out his keys. As he placed his key into the door, he glanced over and saw his trash can and had a sudden urge to just throw the music sheets away. Gritting his teeth in anger, he crumbled up the now crinkled music sheets and hurled them into the trash can with a curse.

After turning the key, Jacob glanced back at the trash can feeling a sense of regret but quickly shook his head and closed the door.

Not far away, Azalia was awoken from her slumber by the sound of the door slamming. Groggily, she pushed the cardboard that she used as a blanket the night before off and slowly took in her surroundings. She wasn't sure where she was at this time, only knew it was somewhere in California.

She had moved out here thinking that with her looks and singing talent, she would be able to easily score an acting or singing gig, but alas, all she had heard for the past six months were rejections. Because of these rejections, Azalia fell into a deep depression, lost her job at a local diner where she waited tables, and, because there was no income for two months, lost her apartment. After being kicked out, she wandered the streets for about a week now.

Azalia stood up from her makeshift bed and wandered over to a nearby trash can to dig around for food. While digging, she came across some crumpled paper. Taking it into her hand, she sent a silent prayer to whichever God or Goddess would listen, praying that there would be some sort of food wrapped in the paper, it had been three days since she last ate, that being a molded piece of bread, and she didn't know how much longer she could go without eating something.

Once she sent her silent prayer, she started to open the crumpled up wrapping paper and found a small piece of a hamburger, not even big enough for a bite. Though it wasn't much, Azalia couldn't help but jump up and almost exclaimed with joy, though she stopped herself short just in case the owner of the trash can was within ear shot, she didn't want to be chased away like she had been so many times in the past.

She quickly popped the two pieces of bread and small chunk of beef into her mouth, making sure to savor the flavor before swallowing. Smiling, she turned back to the trash can and noticed some music sheets clinging onto the trash cans lid. Azalia looked around for a moment, making sure no one saw her, before quickly snatching the music sheets.

Wanting to make a quick getaway, she turned and ran, clutching the music sheets to her chest as if her life depended on it, and for some reason, she felt that it very much did. She didn't know where she was running to, only knew she needed to find a place that was quiet to read these sheets. As she ran, Azalia spotted a library and quickly made a detour, entering the library.

Scanning the library, she quickly found an empty seat in a corner, away from prying eyes. Azalia quickly walked to the corner and sat down and lay the music sheets on the table. Using a few of the books that were laying around, she managed to smooth out the pages enough to read them.

"Armored Heart?" Azalia said with confusion. She had read a lot of music sheets before moving to California, so she had a good grasp of what the lyricist had imagined the song to sound like and after reading it, she felt a strange shock course through her body. A sense of excitement took her over as she read the music sheet over and over again.

She wanted to play this piece, to sing the lyrics of how the lyricist guarded their heart. She wanted to experience the emotions that lingered in the back of her mind begging to be let out. She wanted to sing and post the video of her singing on the web, but she couldn't.

This music wasn't hers, and even if it was, she had no instrument to accompany her as she sang the song. No, now wasn't a good time to try to sing this, she had to at least find the original writer and ask for permission, that was just how she was raised.

With a sigh, Azalia sat back down in her seat calmly before taking a look at the next sheet. As soon as her eyes caught sight of the title, she knew, this song had to be hers.