Skylar: Hola chicos! Hope things are going well for you all! Can't believe we started another year! And I'm using Scarlett Johnson's song "Set it all free." Man, I love that song! I jam my head when I listen to it. I can't help it! Also, you'll like a cute moment that's in this chapter. But as I said before, "Sing" characters don't belong to me or the song as well. Only my OC's and the plot. Enjoy!
It was the next morning and Irene was walking with Johnny to the theater for practice. As soon as Irene saws the theater, she smiled and started to run. Johnny was surprised and followed her into the theater.
"Hey Irene, wait up!" He called out and followed her.
"Sorry Johnny! I just can't wait for practice with Ash! I want to show her my drumming skills!" Irene said excitedly behind her shoulder. She ran through the auditorium and jumped over two steps at a time to the stage, then ran through the stage to the practice rooms. She peeked over and saw the first room with Ash strumming her guitar.
"Hey Ash!" She said and waved to her. Ash looked up and saw her and smiled. She motioned her to wait for a moment. Irene nodded and waited by the door. Johnny panted when he caught up to Irene. "Don't… run like that… again…" He panted and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Irene gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
The door that led to Ash's room opened and Ash stood in the doorway.
"Hey Irene! Ready for practice?" She said, with an excited smile.
Irene nodded. "Yeah. Except I'm gonna need to improvise on a drum set…" She then started to pace around, rubbing a finger against her lips, thinking.
But she didn't notice on Johnny's and Ash's knowing and excited looks. "Irene…" Johnny said. She looked up. "What? I'm trying to think on finding a good drum set that's cheap so Ash and I can play and practice." She started to pace again, but Ash blocked her path. "Irene, me and the rest of the gang have a little present for you." She said with a wide smile.
Irene blinked. "Really? Aw, you shouldn't have!" She said with a hand on her heart, having a touched face.
"Well, we did! But before we show you…" Johnny walks behind her and wrapped Irene's eyes with a blindfold. "Hey!" She said with a giggle. She felt a wave at her face, then she felt someone's hand guiding her where to go. Soon the person and Irene stopped.
"Okay, you can open your eyes!" Johnny and Ash said together.
Irene chuckled and then removed the blindfold. She opened her eyes and stood there with a shocked wide-eyed look. Everyone in the theater gang was behind her, waiting for her reaction. Standing at one corner of the room was a brand new 5-piece drum set with drumsticks laying on one of the drums. She slowly turned around. "I-Is this for…" Her voice trailed off.
Everyone nodded. "Yep, it's yours! And you can come here anytime you want to practice!" Buster said with a wide smile. Irene couldn't help but squeal. "REALLY?! THANK YOU, ALL SO MUCH!" She ran around the room giving everyone hugs, but gave Ash and Johnny longer hugs.
She then ran to the drum set. "Well, Ash, come on! I got practice I need to do!" She said excitedly.
Ash and Buster chuckled. "I figured you'd say that." Buster said, then clapped his hands. "She's right people. Let's get to practice!"
Everyone left to head to their practice rooms, except Johnny and Buster who wanted to see Irene play the drums, while Ash walked to her guitar. "Well, what song do you want to try first?" Ash asked, while picking up her guitar.
Irene thought for a moment, and her face broke into a grin. "How about the song YOU wrote?" She said, pointing to one of her drumsticks to Ash. "'Set it all free?'"
Ash grinned while nodding. "You got it." She strummed her guitar, while Irene started playing with the bass drum. Then Ash sang.
Ash
I've followed my heart into the fire
Got burned, got broken down by desire
I've tried, I've tried but the smoke in my eyes
Left me blurry, blurry, and blind
Irene smiled and she started to drum and sang the next verse.
Irene
I've picked all the pieces up off the ground
I've burned all my fingers, but that's gone now
Got the glue in my hands and stickin' to the plan
Stickin' to the plan that says "I can"
Ash & Irene
Do anything at all
I can do anything at all
At that moment, that was when Irene turned up the intensity of her drumming while Ash played like a true rockstar.
Ash & Irene
This is my kiss goodbye
You can stand alone and watch me fly
Cause nothing's keeping me down
Gonna let it all up
Come on and say right now, right now, right now
This is my big hello
Cause I'm here and never letting go
I can finally see, it's not just a dream
When you set it all free, all free, all free
You set it all free
Ash did a 360-degree spin and with the exciting emotion of her playing her guitar, she sent quills flying out behind her back. For some weird miracle reason, Irene was able to miss the quills that flew at her. She jammed her head and continued to play the drums while Ash continued with her guitar.
Ash & Irene
This is my big hello
Cause I'm here and never letting go
I can finally see, it's not just a dream
When you set it all free, all free, all free
You set it all free!
Irene and Ash finished playing and looked at each other with wide smiles. "That was awesome! I think I have another favorite song now!" Irene said with an exciting grin.
"I have to agree!" Irene and Ash turned to see Buster, and as soon as Irene saw him, she tried her hardest not to laugh. Apparently, while Ash was rocking out and her quills were flying, at least three hit Buster's face. He seemed dazed, in a funny way at least. "U-Um, Mr. Moon, you got a little… quills there." She said, barely containing her giggles and using a finger making an invisible circle around his head.
"Eh, it doesn't hurt as- OW!" He managed to pluck a quill out of his cheek and rubbed his cheek with his other hand.
Irene cringed. "Ooh that had to hurt. Well at least Johnny's-" She turned to see Johnny and that was when she couldn't contain her laughter. "Pft-Hahahaha!" She fell to the floor, laughing her mind out. Johnny had more quills on his face. "N-never mind! Hahaha! I-I'm sorry, Johnny, but you need to see yourself." She hugged her stomach because it was too funny for Irene.
Ash, on the other hand, ran to Johnny and said, "Hey, can you come down so I can take those off you?" He lowered himself and Ash started to pluck them out. "Ow." He said when a quill was plucked out of his forehead. "Ow!" Ash plucked another quill from his nose. "OW!" Ash plucked another from his cheek. Irene slowly stopped laughing and observed at the two friends. She cringed when Ash plucked a quill from Johnny's face.
Johnny didn't know why but suddenly with Ash close to his face, he felt hot. Was it just him or was Ash blushing too? "Sorry about that…" She mumbled and continued with her work. Johnny stuttered, "T-That's okay." She focused on removing the quills until she was on the last one. The only difference from that quill was that it was really in his skin. She tugged it a little and Johnny flinched. "OW!"
Irene cringed. "Um… I think I'll be right back. I'll get the first aid." And with that she quickly left. Well, talk about awkward and cute. She thought and just smiled over that thought. She had to admit, that scene back there was cute. Sure, Johnny and Ash were total opposites, but hey, like many say… "Opposites attract." She said aloud with a mischievous smile.
She looked around in the backstage for the first aid kit, when suddenly she heard a knock at the front entrance. Who could that be? Irene thought with a confused look. She went to the entrance of the theater and saw a male porcupine wearing blue jeans, a white long-sleeved shirt under a black t-shirt. Huh, must be a fan or something. Irene thought.
She unlocked the glass door and she looked at the porcupine. "Hello. Um… can I help you?"
The male porcupine nodded. "Hey. My name's Lance. Is someone named Ash inside that theater?"
Irene hesitated. She didn't know why, but there was something iffy about him. She decided to tell Buster about it. She gave an apologetic smile and raised a finger. "Can you give me one second?" She asked and closed the door, while locking it and entering the theater again. "Hey Mr. Moon!" She called out. Buster came to her, the quills now gone. Irene looked around for a moment to see if anyone else was coming. But nobody did. "I got something to tell you. There's a guy out looking for Ash." She said.
Johnny came onto the stage rubbing his cheek. Irene noticed. "Um, are you okay, Johnny?" She said, raising a concerned eyebrow.
Johnny answered, "Yeah, I'm okay. Just have a numb cheek."
"Oh… kay, then, why are you repeatedly rubbing your cheek?" She asked.
"Well, you were taking a long time for the first aid kit, and Ash wanted me- I mean, Mr. Moon and me, to be treated since the quills were on our skin, and it still stings because of all the plucking she did." He said, blushing with the mistake he made. Buster looked at him in confusion, while Irene had a look of realization, then changed her face to a smug grin. "Ooh, okay." She said, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously. She was going to have a little talk with him later. He just shook his head in a pleading gesture for Irene to not say anything embarrassing.
Irene rolled her eyes with the smug grin and then immediately wiped the look off her face. "Anyway, he asked if Ash was here. I think he's probably a fan of Ash."
"What guy?" Buster asked.
"Well, he's a porcupine, around Ash's height, and he had a little of an uneven pair of front teeth." She described, while gesturing what the porcupine's height looked like along with making an imaginary pair of bigger teeth.
"What's his name?" He asked.
"Lance." Buster and Johnny froze when Irene said his name.
"WHAT?!" Johnny and Buster yelled. Irene jumped back in surprise, due to their sudden reaction. Their shout was loud enough for everyone else, except Ash, to come to the stage. "What's going on?" Mike said, with a confused look.
"Lance is here." Johnny growled. Their faces turned enraged, except Porsha, Nooshy, and Clay, who didn't know about Lance, including Irene. She noticed their faces and slowly backed away from them. "Um, w-was it something I said? You're all making me a little scared." She said nervously.
"Tell that porcupine to never set foot in my theater ever, and if he does, we'll call the police!" Buster angrily remarked.
Irene blinked, surprised over Buster's sudden reaction to wanting to shoo someone away. "What?"
Meena stormed to the entrance. "Gladly!" She said through gritted teeth. Her stomping made everyone jump a little when her footsteps touched the floor.
Irene quickly blocked her path. "Woah, everyone calm down! Can someone tell us what's going on?" She asked, gesturing to everyone who knew what was going on, while Nooshy, Porsha, and Clay Calloway were still standing there in confusion.
Rosita and Gunter walked past her and stood next to Meena. "Listen here, Irene." Rosita said in a stern voice. "That is Ash's ex-boyfriend, Lance."
"Ya, and he's a total super jerk dinkleshplat!" Gunter said while crossing his arms.
Irene and everyone else that didn't know what was going on had surprised looks. Porsha blinked. "Her ex?" She repeated with surprise in her voice.
"Yeah, that bloody jerk cheated on her and dumped her when she first was here two years ago." Johnny said with an angry look. Irene looked at him wide eyed. Note to self: Don't make Johnny upset. She thought. "Okay then… I'll tell him not to come here again." Irene said then walked to the entrance, the rest of the group following her to see the cheating jerk that hurt their friend. But when they reached it, Irene noticed that he was gone.
Her face scrunched up in confusion. "Where did he go?" She thought aloud. "He was here… Maybe he left?" She said uncertainly, then suddenly they hear a shout. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" Everyone's eyes widen in fear, and they ran to the stage.
"That was Ash!" Clay cried out.
"I think that Lance guy broke in by picking the lock!" Nooshy said. "He must have! I locked the door when I came to ask you guys about him!" Irene called behind her shoulder. They continued to run, hoping that Ash was okay.
To be continued…
Skylar: Uh oh, this isn't good. But I'm gonna leave a cliff hanger here. I know, I'm evil. *Cackles* Anyways, keep an eye out for part 2, and I'll see you in the next chapter! Adios readers!