Hiiii, everybody!
I know, I know, you're gonna say: "Awesomo… WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!"
And I got a perfectly reasonable explanation for my absence. For a while, I lost a little motivation for this movie and a bit of my drive to write, that and my job is really time-consuming and exhausting. That and maaaaybe a little laziness thrown in.
Y'see? Totally understandable! :D
Anywho, I'm here now and I'll try to update this story as much as I can for you guys. I won't just abandon it because words cannot describe how grateful I am for the amount of favourites, reviews and follows I've gotten for this fic in the past two months. With those in mind, I won't stop trying to keep you guys entertained, soooo… on with the chapter! I know it's a little shorter than the previous ones, but hey, something's better than nothing, right?
I do not own the movie Sing. I only own my OC, Jason.
Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review! :)
Jason stood amongst the remaining contestants that had been chosen.
Having initially chosen Daniel the giraffe, Buster quickly realised how frustrating it would be to constantly talk to him through the bullhorn and went with the gorilla Johnny instead. Additionally, he'd decided on a duo act between Gunter, an incredibly energetic and chubby pig (with a German accent to boot), and another pig named Rosita so as to make her less 'boring to watch'. Jason, however, stared out into space. Still too lost in his own shock to take notice. Out of all the countless rejected contestants leaving the theatre in disappointment, Buster Moon had chosen him.
I mean, I guess I can't complain but still… me?
"Okay, you are my chosen few."
Moon's voice instantly snapped him out of his stupor as the selected competitors gather round, all giving quiet exclamations of excitement. The little koala admired his cast as he continued his announcement.
"This is it, folks. A defining moment in all of our lives!" He stopped midway through, turning around to see the red panda group who had come back, each retaining an eager smile.
"Umm, no, no, no, not you guys. I dismissed all the group acts already, you can go home." The middle one responded with a quick burst of Japanese that Jason couldn't decipher, with an additional bow of presumably gratitude. Moon shook his head and tapped his clipboard with his pen.
"Look, look, I'm really sorry but all the slots are filled…" All he got in return was another spout of Japanese followed by the pandas all bowing in unison. They then turned on their little pink CD player and began singing and dancing along to some techno Japanese music, ignoring Buster's protests altogether. It wasn't until he switched off the music and had the lizard (whom Jason finally heard her name as Miss Crawley) shoo them away that they left. An amused smirk crept onto Jason's face as the pandas all ran giggling past a sheep who had just entered and taken a seat in the back of the auditorium.
"Hey, Moon!" called out the mouse, Mike, who had clambered up onto the big chest behind Buster, "What's the story? Is the prize really inside this thing?"
"The prize? Oh, sure, yes. It's all in there." Came the neutral response.
"Well open it, will ya? I wanna see what $100,000 looks like." Mike demanded, rubbing his paws together impatiently as all the other contestants spoke up in agreement. Even Jason had to admit, although he didn't come for the prize, it would be interesting to see that much money inside one trunk.
"Sure, I'll open it." Moon began rummaging around in his pocket for the keys. But his smile dropped, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Wait… what did you say?"
"He said $100,000." The sheep came over to the stage, handing Buster his own copy of the flyer. Taking it in his paw and giving it a quick read, the koala let out a tiny yelp before turning around slowly to face the contestants.
"I… forgot my keys." He chuckled uneasily, crumpling the flyer up into a ball and tossing it away. "I'll, uh, be right back." Seizing Miss Crawley's hand, he sprinted off the stage with her and into the wings. Staring after him, the contestants all turned their attention to the sheep.
"Is he your friend?" Johnny inquired, gaining a quick "mm-hm" in return. The sheep then clambered up the stage steps and ran behind the curtains after the koala.
"Quite the eccentric one, isn't he?" Jason couldn't help but quip. A silence hung in the air for a moment or two. Gunter instantly spun around and began rambling endlessly to Rosita of how 'spicy' and 'totally wunderbar' their act was going to be, gaining an uneasy smile from her in response. Pete the camel's eyes gazed at the amphitheatre's design as the frog trio began chatting amongst themselves. Mike just relaxed on top of the chest rubbing its wooden lid greedily, not paying anyone around him any attention.
Well, no point in letting this time go to waste. Jason thought to himself, his eyes awkwardly darting between the various contestants and their conversations. May as well get friendly.
"So, uh, congratulations on getting in, Johnny." He at last spun around on his heel and gazing up at Johnny next to him. The gorilla looked down at him with an appreciative grin.
"Yeah, you too. Jason, right?"
"That's me. So you're the singer in your family, I'm guessing?"
"Yeah, well, I mean, I mainly drive cars and, uh, sometimes skateboard." Johnny replied, stuffing his hands into the pockets on his leather jacket, "Singing, it's, uh, sort of a natural talent I got from my mum. Been doing it since childhood."
"Oh, yeah? She proud you entered this show?" Jason raised an interested eyebrow. The gorilla took a hand out to scratch his head awkwardly.
"Umm, I wouldn't know. She… she left my dad when I was a kid."
"Oh, I'm sorry about that." Jason replied, his friendly smile faltering.
"Nah, it's alright."
"Well… I bet your dad's proud of you then?" Johnny squirmed somewhat uncomfortably, rolling his shoulders and glancing at the wall to his left.
"Uh, yeah, yeah…" Came his unsure reply. The porcupine gazed up at him incredulously but decided not to pry anymore. "Wh-What about you? You the singer in your family?"
"Oh, it's more of a hobby than a life goal." Jason shrugged, straightening his hoodie out. "I'm just doing this to get some time off work. That, and my sister loves my voice and desperately wants me to use it."
The corner of Johnny's mouth curled up in amusement.
"Yeah? Does the rest of your family like your singing?" He asked.
"Yeah, I think I got it from my grandpa on my mom's side of the family. He used to be in a choir. My parents like it too but my two older brothers tease me about it constantly."
"They do?"
"Yeah, insisting I have no talent, telling me that my voice isn't that good, all that jazz."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, mate." Johnny frowned, almost sympathetically.
"Ah, don't worry about it, I know they're only kidding." Jason raised his paw dismissively. "I mean, we're brothers, it's what we do. Trade friendly insults, laugh it off at the end of the day, that sorta thing."
"Yeah, guess so." Came the gorilla's soft reply, looking down at the floorboards. A pregnant pause followed.
"Any siblings yourself?" Jason inquired after a few seconds.
"Nah, I'm an only child."
"Heh, be glad you haven't had to put up with the stuff I've gone through with my siblings for nineteen years of my life." The porcupine joked, "Especially my sister's pouty face she used to make me enter this show." Johnny couldn't help letting out a laugh at that.
"And it always gets you?" he asked with an amused grin.
"Every single time."
Before Johnny could respond, they both flinched at the thundering sound of the amphitheatre doors slamming open.
"Okay, everybody, listen up!"
Gunter shushed everyone as Buster strode down the corridor authoritatively, his sheep friend leaning against the door.
"I gotta send you all home. Right now." Jason cocked his head in confusion along with everyone else before Buster continued, smiling all the way. "Yep. 'Cause like my dad used to say… get a good night's sleep and do a great day's work!"
"That's right." He continued, running up the steps onto the stage, "Rehearsals begin first thing tomorrow morning. And if you wanna become stars and win a hundred grand, then you better be ready to work harder than you've ever worked in your lives! So get some sleep and dream big dreams!"
All the contestants gave their own little cheers and whoops of excitement at this. Jason couldn't help giving his own tiny grin with a nod in agreement. Everyone then began leaving the stage while the sheep began chatting with Eddie behind them.
"So, Johnny, guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Jason said, holding out his fist to the gorilla as soon as they got outside, a TV crew filming them all leaving the theatre. Smiling in return, Johnny gave the porcupine a fistbump.
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it." He replied as he began making his way down the sidewalk, pulling his skateboard out from under his arm and hopping onto it. Whizzing down the street, Jason watched him until he rounded the corner and disappeared.
"See you in the morning, everyone!" Jason called over his shoulder as he made his way across the street. He smiled at the acknowledgements he heard in return as he started his own journey back to the bus stop.
Trudging up the stone steps of his house, Jason plucked his earphones out before fishing around in his pocket for his house keys. As his fingers flicked through the various ones on the chain, he couldn't get his mind off a lot of things. The competition. The other contestants. The fact he'd been chosen to begin with.
And that other porcupine that left the theatre early.
Ash.
What a name. What was it short for? Ashley? Or Ashlynn perhaps?
I suppose it doesn't matter that much. Jason's conscience decided. Ash is short and sweet regardless.
He remembered how confident she looked onstage at the auditions. How expertly she'd played her guitar. The stunning high notes she effortlessly hit during the song. And yet how little her boyfriend seemed to acknowledge her talent at all…
"So, Jason, how'd it go?"
Blinking rapidly, Jason realised he had walked through the door and was now greeted with Stephanie and his parents staring him in the face eagerly. Craig and Alex just leant against the living room doorframe casually.
"Did you get in?" Gina asked. His eyebrows furrowing in confusion for a moment, Jason mentally kicked himself as he remembered he forgot to text them his audition results. So he gave them his calm reply.
"Surprisingly, yes. Yes, I did."
Next thing he knew, his ears were assaulted by the volume of Stephanie's squees of delight followed by her near-suffocating hug, coupled with Gina smothering kisses over every inch of his face possible as her husband gave him a satisfied pat on his arm.
"They must have some pretty low tastes then!" Craig called over the deafening sounds of praise, though his snarky comment went unheard.
"Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh, oh, my goooooosh!" His sister cried, finally releasing Jason from her tight embrace before he could choke.
"Jason, you have no idea how proud of you we are!" Gina exclaimed after giving him one final kiss on the forehead. Jason raised a flippant eyebrow.
"Oh, I think I got a pretty good idea from the kisses and the bone-crushing hug." Stephanie blushed slightly under her fur, giving her arm an awkward scratch.
"Sorry, sorry." Almost instantly though, her bouncy smile returned. "It's just… well… you're in!"
"Honestly I didn't really expect to get in." Jason replied with a shrug, "But some last minute changes had to be done to the singer selections so… yeah, here I am."
"Well I'd say that's a pretty great decision on their part." Kenneth gave his son another proud pat on the arm. Jason tried to give a smile of gratitude but settled for a small puzzled frown instead.
"Still, of all the contestants that came to the auditions, they pick me?"
"Yeah, we find that pretty hard to believe too."
"Shut it, Alex!" Stephanie glared at her eldest sibling venomously before spinning around to face Jason with an ecstatic smile. "But who cares? You got in anyway! That's amazing in and of itself! And besides, if they chose you out of all the others there, you must be that good!" With that, she came in for another, and mercifully less painful, hug.
"So all you have to do is call up your boss and let him know you got a show to put on!" Gina added. Jason nodded with the most non-hesitant smile he could muster.
"Yep, should be fun."
After a quick pretending to be exhausted from the day and an email sent to his boss, Jason lay upon his bed in a white shirt and blue boxers. For the past twenty minutes, he'd been doing nothing but staring at the ceiling. Thinking of many things. About why he had been chosen to perform. About whether he'd made the right decision to enter in the first place. About what the heck he'd do with all that prize money if he somehow won. About what he was going to do after the show was over.
The sound of his Axel F ringtone instantly jolted him out of his trance.
Reaching over to his bedside table without looking, Jason held his phone up to his face. The smiling icon of Grandpa underneath the MuzzleTime logo blared from his screen. Feeling a little more at ease, Jason pressed the green phone button and was greeted by his grandparent's warm smile.
"Heeeey, how's my favourite grandson?"
"Hi, grandpa." Jason responded, his grin widening.
"Your mother told me the news. About how you got into that singing contest I've seen on the news." The porcupine's smile wavered a little at the mention of the show.
"Yep. I did."
"I bet you feel pretty excited about it." Grandpa turned away from the screen to let out a rather wretched cough. Jason grimaced but forced himself to ignore the sound.
"Uh, yeah, kind of. I guess…" He sighed. "I'm just a little confused. I mean, I don't get why they chose me out of all the others they saw audition today."
"Well to me, Jason, it sounds like the judges there know talent when they hear it. I know I certainly do." Grandpa replied proudly, adjusting his glasses slightly, "If they picked you over all the others who auditioned, I think that says quite a lot about you." Jason resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the familiar statement his sister had stated earlier but nonetheless kept his smile as best as he could.
"Oh, believe me, I'm grateful, really." He replied hastily, "But come on, it's not like this is gonna be a permanent career choice, Grandpa. It's just something to get some time away from work for a bit, that's all. The moment this finishes, it's back to the insurance comp…"
"Jason."
The young porcupine flinched, almost dropping the phone. Rarely did Grandpa ever use that kind of strict tone, especially on him. But the whole family knew damn well to always pay attention whenever he did.
"Listen to me."
Sitting up until he was leaning against his pillow, Jason focused obediently on his elder's firm stare.
"You've finally gotten the chance to express your talent. To show others and yourself what you're really capable of. When the judges made you a part of the show, that means they saw something inside you worth bringing out that you don't see in yourself. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you've been given, Jason. When an opportunity comes up, you've got to take it. And when you take it, you got to be ready for everything that comes after it. So don't let this go to waste, Jason. You go up on that stage and make the best of it. Please. Promise me that you will."
The room filled with a silence so tense, it couldn't be cut with even the sharpest knife. Many of Jason's emotions battled viciously for control. Finally he gave his answer.
"I… okay, Grandpa. I promise."
The elderly porcupine's face on the screen instantly softened into a tender grin.
"Good boy. Now you better get some rest for rehearsals tomorrow."
"Yeah, goodnight, Grandpa." Jason smiled back warmly, "Love you."
"I love you too." At those final words, Grandpa's smiling face was replaced with the red phone icon. Jason stared at the screen for the longest time with a sort of sad grin. Finally, he set his morning alarm for earlier than usual and placing his phone back on the bedside table. Pulling the covers over himself, one final thought raced through his brain before his eyes slowly closed.
Hopefully this'll all be worth it.
*I do not own the rights of the movie 'Sing'. All rights go to Illumination Entertainment.
Hope the wait was worth it! :D