Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 48th cycle. Now cycle 49!

"Singing in the Rain"
16/15yo Mike/Tina
Chang Squared
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

The clouds had not seemed so dark when they'd gotten into the studio, and even as they had started their class. But then halfway through, a clap of thunder had made the class scream out. They tried to wrangle everyone back, but the rest of the period had been rendered more or less done. Eventually the parents had returned to gather the kids, and then it was just the two of them. By the time they were ready to go though, it had only gotten worse.

"We should wait, right?" Tina looked to him.

"Probably," he agreed.

"There are worse places," she shrugged with a smile. "Besides, it'll give us a chance to work," she pulled him from the windows.

"Work on what?" he asked. She pointed at a spot for him to stand in, facing the mirrors on the wall, and she positioned him.

"Your singing, you said you needed it, and if we're joining Glee Club this fall, then…" she gestured.

"Why am I facing the mirrors?" he asked, pointing.

"Your toughest critic," she nodded to his reflection knowingly. He looked back ahead, hesitant. "You'll have to do it. Come on, it's just us," she smiled, encouraging.

"You start," he decided. "I'll jump in."

"Okay," she faced forward as well, pausing to think of a song, then she smiled.

"What?" he asked, just before she launched into Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl." He blinked, not having expected this to be her choice at all. He knew the lyrics, that wasn't a problem, though he knew two other things: she was killing it – in the good sense of the word – and he would kill it… in not so good of a way. And then she was tapping his arm. "Uh?"

"You didn't start!" She had finished the song without him noticing.

"Sorry…" he breathed. "Go again, I'll do it this time," he promised.

"Is it the song?" she gave a smile.

"It's fine," he shrugged, "Go for it." She bowed her head, then they faced forward again and she restarted the song. This time he kept his focus, remembering that, yes, it was just them, and Tina wouldn't make fun of him.

It was pretty much what he'd expected, though he knew it had to be done, that they had to start somewhere. He knew he had to commit to it, they had promised.

"Be honest, how bad was it?" he cringed when he had finished. She hesitated for a moment, searching for the right words. "Maybe it was a bad idea…"

"No, don't say that," she took his arm. "It was the first time. Now we know where we're starting from. You'll get better, I know you will."

"You think I can sing?" he looked at her.

"Well… maybe not yet," she conceded. "But you'll learn. I'll help you. I had to learn, too."

"But you're amazing. You'll get in, no problem. Me…"

"Stop, right now," she instructed. "You'll get better. We have until September. Besides, having room for improvement might keep Ryerson's hands off you…" she gave him a look and he frowned.

"You had to bring him up…"

"Okay, lesson one…" she grinned. One second later, there was a flash, and the lights went out, dropping darkness on them. "I guess that's the end of it…"

"Actually maybe it's better," he held on to her. "I don't know…"

"It's really dark out there now…" she looked out the window, dark clouds dominating. She didn't like storms, which he knew might have gone into her wanting to get him singing. Now though, she needed that distraction more than ever.

"What do I have to do, show me," he tugged her arm. They were more or less in a dance hold by now, so he used that, hoping to get her mind at ease again. He pulled her forward, swaying her about, and he heard her smile in her words.

"Fine, alright, let's see, lesson one…"

They would work until the electricity came back, which was over an hour later. With the return of the lights, they could see the storm had started to pass already, had done so for some time, though they'd been too busy to see.

"We should probably go home," Tina nodded, looking out.

"We should," Mike slowly replied. "Or…" She turned to him. "Do you think I'm ready for lesson two?"

"Already?" she smiled, and he shrugged. "How very eager of you."

"I have a great teacher," he confided, and she laughed.

"Okay, but can we do it at my house, in case the storm comes back?"

"Whatever you say, Teach."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!