CHAPTER 3 - SINGING SURPRISE
This new chapter picks up as Fin and Lo start laying the foundations for their singing group. On a couple of notes, the tune Reef attempts to sing to try to prove his singing skills to Fin is the same one he sang to Lo in the Stoked Season Two episode "Hunka Hunka Burning Reef", with the first line modified to rhyme with a certain surfer girl's name. Also, because Emilie-Claire Barlow, who voices Mrs. Ridgemount on the show, is a jazz singer in real life, I picked a tune for Mrs. R to sing for her group audition that Ms. Barlow has actually recorded herself at one point.
Emma had finished up her waitressing shift at the Pirate Ship a few minutes ago and was on her way back to the staff house to change into her bikini for a session at the Office when she overheard some arguing going on from a distance. As the sounds got closer, Emma then recognized the arguing voices as those of Fin and Reef, who had just come back with Lo and Broseph from Sunset Beach.
"Forget it, Reef! It's not gonna happen!" Fin said to the cocky surfer.
"Oh, you bet it is, sister!" Reef shot back. "You're just afraid I'll outclass you the same way I do at surfing. Or are you jealous because you know I'll sound a lot better than you?"
"Me, jealous? HA!" Fin retorted. "Dream on, tin ear!"
"What're you guys arguing about?" a curious Emma asked.
"We just came from grabbing dinner at Starvin' Marvin's Drive-In back in town," Lo began, "and we put up a flyer for the talent show auditions on their bulletin board. Well, guess who showed up, found out about the show and decided to sign up for it."
"Oh, don't tell me," said Emma, who had a suspicion. "Tuna and Betty?"
"I guess it wasn't enough for them to get whipped at tandem surfing," Fin said. "So Tuna said he and Betty were gonna enter the show and be the stars in it. Lo said her dad wouldn't be happy about that, so I said we could counter Tuna and Betty by forming a singing group to enter the show too."
"And that's a group I plan to be the lead singer in," Reef bragged.
"And I said no way, Reef!" Fin said. "It's bad enough as it is that you're a glory hog, but you couldn't carry a tune if it had handles on it either!"
"Ha! I knew it," Reef then teased Fin. "You ARE jealous that I'm a better singer than you!"
"Oh, really?" Fin said slyly, now getting an idea to make Reef choke on his words. "Prove it then. If you're really that good a singer, then sing me a song. I want to hear how good you really are."
"Okay, I will!" Reef said. "I've got one for you I worked on for a while." After clearing his throat, he then launched into his song:
If she was a color, it would be jasmine
Her hair is so shiny, it makes me all...piney
I'm head over heels, for that chick...that..chick...
Reef's hesitant, off-key singing did not impress any of the girls though, as Fin, Lo and Emma all covered their ears. "Okay Reef, stop already! STOP!" Fin snapped at Reef, cutting him off before he could finish. "Please, spare our eardrums!"
"C'mon, I'm not finished yet!" Reef protested. "I've still got the best part to get to."
"Actually, you are finished," Fin said. "You just proved why you're not gonna be the lead singer. In fact, for what Lo and I have in mind, there'll only be girls singing in this group."
"Aw man, what a rip!" Reef grumbled, then sat down on the front porch steps and began sulking with his arms crossed.
"Wait, I didn't say you wouldn't be a part of the group," Fin said, trying to smooth over Reef's feelings. "You will be, just not as a singer. But I know you play percussion, and we do need a percussion man to back us up musically and set the rhythm of the song."
Reef looked up at Fin a moment. "Really?" he said.
"You bet," Fin said. "You won't be alone on musical backup either." Turning to Broseph, she continued, "Since Broseph plays guitar, he can join you."
"I will?" Broseph said, sounding surprised to be asked.
"Sure, Broseph," Fin said. "I haven't forgotten when you did that acoustic guitar jam with Ripper and David down on the beach a few weeks ago. You guys were good, that's why I'd like you to join us on guitar."
"Ehh, I don't know..." a hesitant Broseph said. "Performing for a few friends is one thing, but a whole crowd..."
"Relax, Broseph," Fin reassured her friend. "I know you don't like competing for trophies or prizes, but it's just a talent show, not a contest, so there's no pressure to compete. You just have to play music with your friends, that's it."
"Okay, fair enough," Broseph said with a shrug. "I'll join you guys."
"Right on," Fin said with a grin, slapping five with Broseph. "So now we've got the musical backup we need, but we still need two more singers to round out the singing quartet." Thinking for a moment, she then turned toward Emma. "Emma, you know how to sing, don't you?" Fin asked the ponytailed redhead.
"Sure, a little," Emma replied. "I did some singing in school choirs when I was younger."
"Can you do harmony singing?" Fin said.
"That's one of my strengths," Emma confirmed. "My music teacher taught us all about it later in grade school."
"Cool, you're in," Fin said, pleasing Emma. "If we're gonna get the better of Tuna and Betty, we have to play to our strengths and sound really good when we get on stage. Now we have to find one more singer."
The next day, Fin, Lo and Emma, all of whom were taking breaks from their respective jobs, got together in the hotel lobby to practice for the talent show with a few songs when Mrs. Ridgemount stepped out from the elevator that led directly to the Ridgemount penthouse. Upon hearing the girls singing, the hotel owner's wife listened for a moment, then walked up to them. "Hey, that's very fly tuneage fo' shizzle, girlfriends," an impressed Mrs. Ridgemount said, going into hip-hop mode. "What's the 411 with your crew and the show?"
While an embarrassed Lo rolled her eyes at hearing her mother trying to imitate Snoop Dogg, Fin gave Mrs. Ridgemount the update. "We're getting a singing group together to enter the show 'cause we found out Tuna and Betty are entering to represent Captain Ron," she explained.
"Ohh, I don't think your father's going to like that news when he hears it, honey," Mrs. Ridgemount told Lo.
"That's just what I said too!" Lo stated. "Tuna even said he and Betty plan to be the 'stars' of the show when they do their act. I don't know how they're going to do it, but that's why we have to enter the show ourselves, to counter whatever they might have up their sleeves."
"And we're still trying to look for a singer to round out our quartet," Fin said. "We've already got me, Lo and Emma in, but we need one more."
"Hmm, I think I know someone who might be able to help out," Mrs. Ridgemount said.
"Really?" Lo said. "Who?"
To show her what she meant, Mrs. Ridgemount started singing a song she had in mind:
Like a lover, the morning sun
Slowly rises and kisses you awake
Your smile is soft and fuzzy
As you let it play upon your face
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the morning sun to you
Like a lover, the river wind
Sighs and ripples its fingers through your hair
Upon your cheek it lingers
Never having known a sweeter place
Oh, how I dream
I might be like the river wind to you
Fin, Emma and especially Lo were stunned to hear just how good a singer Mrs. Ridgemount turned out to be as she belted out the tune. When Mrs. Ridgemount finished, Fin turned to her friends and said with a grin, "Girls, I think we may have found our fourth singer."
"Does it mean I'm in, then?" a hopeful Mrs. Ridgemount said.
"You bet," confirmed Lo, who had at first been worried that her mother would embarrass her by rapping to a hip-hop song. "Welcome aboard, Mom."
"Oh, thank you, girls!" Mrs. Ridgemount said, pleased to hear the news as she then hugged Lo. "With the four of us together, there's no way Captain Ron will upstage us at the talent show!"
"You even sounded good enough that we could have you do a solo part in whatever song we choose for the show," Emma then said as she reached into a snack-sized bag of almonds she was carrying to snack on and pulled out a couple of them. "Like some almonds?" she said to Mrs. Ridgemount, offering her the bag.
"Sorry, no, I can't," Mrs. Ridgemount said, politely refusing the almonds. "Thanks for offering, but I'm allergic to them."
"Oh, sorry about that," Emma said. "How bad?"
"It's just a mild allergy," Mrs. Ridgemount said. "Last time I ate some by mistake in some Chinese takeout, I developed a case of laryngitis. Couldn't speak above a whisper for a few days. Funny thing about it is that I never used to be allergic to almonds, but right after I gave birth to George, that's when the allergy developed."
Surprise, surprise. Thanks a lot, George, Lo thought to herself. "Well, as long as you avoid eating any almonds by mistake," she then told her mother, "I don't think we'll have anything to worry about."
Meanwhile, unknown to the girls and Mrs. Ridgemount, Betty was in the hotel lobby in front of the gift shop, discreetly listening in on their conversation while checking out bikinis on sale to avoid looking suspicious. To keep from being recognized, Betty was disguised with sunglasses, a wig of long dark hair and was wearing a long-sleeved dress to cover up the Pisces tattoo on her upper left arm. After hearing everything the girls had said (including Mrs. Ridgemount mentioning her almond allergy), Betty then walked outside through the main entrance and took out her cell phone to call Tuna.
Over at Captain Ron's hotel, Tuna was hanging out in that hotel's lobby when his cell phone began ringing. Expecting it to be Betty on the other end, he answered it.
"Hey babe, what's up?" Tuna replied, then he listened to Betty's report on what she overheard. "Uh-huh?...Yeah?...Mm-hmm?...Okay, got it. Catch ya later, babe."
Captain Ron, who was nearby at the front desk, caught Tuna's end of the phone conversation and walked over to find out what his top employees had said. "So, what's the scoop?" Captain Ron asked.
"Just heard from Betty 'bout the talent show over at Surfer's Paradise," Tuna said. "She said Lo Ridgemount, two of her friends and her mother are formin' a singin' group to enter the show to counter me and Betty."
"Anything else?" Captain Ron said.
"She told me somethin' we might be able to use," Tuna then reported. "She said she heard Mrs. Ridgemount's allergic to almonds. Eating them causes her to lose her voice or somethin' like that."
"Hmm, I like the sound of that," Captain Ron mused with an evil grin. "That gives me an idea we can put in tandem with our 'secret weapon' that we're gonna use to make sure you and Betty become the stars at the talent show. When Betty gets back, I'll tell her what she needs to do to set the Ridgemounts and their group back."
Next up, the girls pick a name for their group as the talent show auditions take place. Also, Captain Ron puts his plan to sabotage the group into action by targeting Mrs. Ridgemount.
Partial song lyrics above (sung here by Mrs. Ridgemount) are from "Like a Lover", written by Dori Caymmi, Nelson Motta, Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman. I don't own the song.