I know, I know, sorry for the lateness again. But remember: we authors here on Fanfiction do have a life with responsibilities outside this website, y'know. And for me, that's my job and buying birthday gifts. XD
I do not own the movie Sing. I only own my OC, Jason.
Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review! :)
Jason arrived at rehearsals at exactly 8:25 in the morning.
After groggily heaving his tired bones out of bed, he had shut off his set-earlier-than-usual alarm (with some motivation courtesy of Stephanie) and gotten ready for the 7:40 bus. Having not been much of a morning porcupine before, waking up this early was even more of a challenge to him.
But thankfully, he was fully dressed, showered and ready by the time he walked through the main door of the Moon Theatre. And once again, he couldn't help but gaze around at the shimmering red velvet adorning the walls and the four towering marble pillars that reached up to the ceiling.
"I'll never get used to the scope of this place." He murmured, finally tearing his eyes away as he continued down the corridor. Pushing open the bronze wooden doors to the amphitheatre, Jason made his way down past the endless rows of seats. Looking ahead, he saw that Johnny, Gunter, Mike, Pete and the frogs were already there waiting and talking amongst each other.
But no Ash.
Late probably, no biggie. Happens to any teenager this early. Jason's conscience reassured him.
"Hey, Jason!"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Jason turned to see that Johnny had taken notice of him. Grinning, he clambered his way up the steps and onto the stage. The two animals then engaged in a quick friendly fist bump.
"Good to see you, Johnny."
"Ready to start the day?" The gorilla asked with a smile.
"Eh, little sleepy but I'm sure I'll get into it as the day goes by." Came Jason's jokey reply, adding a fake yawn for good measure. "I'm more of an early bird than a night owl." Johnny chuckled in response just as Rosita entered and made her way up to the stage.
"I know that feeling all too well, mate."
"Good morning, folks!"
All the animals flinched in alarm at the volume of that shout, just as a familiar koala followed by his elderly lizard assistant walked up the steps onto the stage.
Sheesh, didn't even hear him come in. Someone give that koala a bell, stat.
"Now I trust you all had a good night's rest because you've got an incredibly busy couple of days ahead of you." The contestants hurriedly lined up along the stage, Jason placing himself between Johnny and the frog trio as Buster began pacing in front of them, clipboard in paw. Behind him, Miss Crawley toddled behind, handing out sheets of paper to each of them.
"This contest is war. This stage is the battlefield. Your song is your weapon." The koala enunciated as Jason took his own sheet from Miss Crawley's hand with an appreciative nod. The other competitors regarded their own with great vocal interest.
"You only get one shot to blow that audience away. So choose carefully from the list of songs I've selected for each of you." Raising an eyebrow, the porcupine was just about to glance at his sheet when his ears picked up the sound of running footsteps.
Out of the corner of his eye, some of Jason's drowsiness instantly melted away as he saw Ash take her place at the end of the line. Buster also took notice of her arrival and smiled.
"Ah, talked some sense into that boyfriend of yours?" He inquired, fishing out Ash's own sheet from his clipboard. Jason's brow furrowed at the mention of the rude porcupine from yesterday as Ash gave a roll of her gleaming blue eyes.
"Lance is an artist," she responded in that snarky yet sweet voice of hers, "but I wouldn't expect you to understand that."
"You're right, I don't understand that at all." Even Jason couldn't help smirking slightly at Ash's baffled reaction to the koala's totally nonchalant reply. He then began walking backstage and casually avoiding any props and equipment in his path, the contestants all following him in an optimistic hubbub.
"Now you'll notice each list also includes my costume and performance suggestions. Okay, Miss Crawley will show you to your rehearsal spaces. Now let's get to work."
"'Scuse me? Mr. Moon?" Johnny called, running until he was right alongside the koala. He gestured towards his sheet, confused. "For some reason, it says here that I should be playing the piano?"
"Yes!" came Buster's confident reply, clearly not noticing the hesitance in the gorilla's voice, "Just imagine: big soulful guy like you tenderly playing the keys. They'll be goosebumps everywhere!"
"Well I haven't played piano since I was a kid…"
"Miss Crawley! We're gonna need some piano lessons over here!" Buster called without missing a beat.
"Yes, sir!" the lizard replied as Buster took a cup of coffee from the refreshments tray held in her quivering hands, "Up the stairs, Johnny, and I'll be right along."
Wow, that koala sure is dedicated. Jason raised an eyebrow as Johnny began making his way up the rickety staircase.
"And Pete, you're in here."
"You got it, Mr. Moon!" The plaid-dressed camel acknowledged, making his way to an empty rehearsal space. Jason's attention perked up to the sound of loud bickering coming from the large practice room where the frogs had gone. Putting his cup down, Buster quickly sprinted in to assess the situation.
Jason's hunger kicked in as he took one of the orange muffins off Miss Crawley's tray. Turning around to see Ash, he began opening his mouth to speak to her.
"Ash, dear, you're in the rehearsal space at the end there."
And his mouth clamped shut with slight disappointment as Ash nodded at the lizard and made her way to the end room. Miss Crawley turned to him with a kind smile, clearly not noticing his expression.
"And Jason, if you could go into that room th-what? Hey, get outta here!" Opening the door to the room next to Pete's, Miss Crawley shooed the same giggling red pandas out the door as Jason watched awkwardly.
"Well you have to admire their persistence." Rosita said, smiling, before Miss Crawley directed her and Gunter to their own rehearsal room. Looking down, Jason noticed the suit-donning mouse Mike with his arms folded with his paper sheet lying next to him. From the look of it, he hadn't been given anywhere to go.
May as well get friendly with the others.
"Hey, if you want, Mike, you could share my rehearsal space?" The porcupine offered with a polite grin, holding open the door for emphasis. The mouse only gave a roll of his eyes.
"Pfft, I don't need a rehearsal space. I already know I'm talented." Came the haughty reply as he gestured to the paper beside his tiny body. "These songs? Just a walk in the park. Last thing I need is having to share a room with any a' these amateurs. No offense there, Spike." Jason gave an indignant frown at his unwanted new nickname. Mike simply turned on his heel without so much as a smile and walked away as if he owned the place.
"None taken." Jason called after him, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Ratface." He muttered that last word under his breath, wishing he'd said it loud enough for that rude mouse to hear clearly.
So much for getting friendly with everyone.
Making a mental note to steer clear of him for the rest of the week, Jason went into his now-empty rehearsal space and surveyed the surroundings. The wall in front of him was shining wood while the other two were giant windows gazing into the rehearsal rooms next to him, complete with a hanging red curtain each for privacy. And in the centre was a single chair and a CD player with, presumably, a CD that had his selected songs.
"Eh, short but sweet. I dig it." Jason concluded. As he put his muffin down on the chair, he suddenly realized he still hadn't taken the time to look at his own list. Lifting the paper up to eye level, he studied his song choices.
And his heart plummeted further to the pit of his stomach with each one he read.
All-Star by Smash Mouth
You're Welcome by Dwayne Johnson
If You Can't Rock Me by The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Crash by The Primitives
Into Yesterday by Sugar Ray
Find Yourself by Brad Paisley
Crocodile Rock by Elton John
Paradise by Coldplay
Careless Whisper by George Michael
Friends by Blake Shelton
I See Fire by Ed Sheeran
It was as if that koala hadn't even paid any attention to his audition. His face contorting into a mixture of annoyance and nervousness, the porcupine spun around and shoved open his door roughly, just in time to see Buster calmly checking his clipboard near the dress racks.
"Hey! Mr Moon!" The sharpness of Jason's voice instantly made the koala's head jerk up to look at him. "Not sure if you listened to my song at the auditions yesterday but these songs have higher octaves than I'm used to." To his irritation, Moon seemed blissfully unaware of Jason's frustration.
"I know, right?" he replied, still bearing that same optimistic smile. "I gotta say, after watching your audition, I see a whole lotta potential in you, Jason. And think of how great you could sound with one of these songs under your belt." Rolling his eyes, the porcupine went for a more blunt approach as if speaking to a child.
"Maybe I should rephrase that. I can't sing this high." But Buster only remained undeterred.
"Well the way I see it, you're very talented but from what I saw yesterday, you're playing it too safe." Came his response. "You're not singing enough from the heart. And when you sing, you gotta really feel it inside yourself. And just imagine it, after some practice and by the time the main event arrives, you'll blow the entire audience away."
"Mr Moon, with all due respect, I know my own limits." Jason countered, holding his list next to his head and shaking it. "And frankly, you're asking me to push past some pretty big limits."
"Well, Jason, y'know what my dad used to say about limits? If you never try going over them, you'll never know what you're truly capable of." The moment Buster finished that quotation, he smiled and held out his arms in a "ta-da" pose. But Jason only raised an eyebrow.
"Did your dad ever tell you not to confuse optimism with ignorance?" He asked in a snippy tone.
"Hey, Moon! You gave me the wrong list."
The two animals broke apart their conversation to see Ash walking down the steps from her rehearsal space, looking pretty annoyed herself.
"Cheesy pop's not exactly my style." She continued, distastefully holding her sheet between her fingers like a piece of trash.
"Style, I'm glad you brought that up." Buster replied, completely ignoring Jason and jumping up onto a trunk next to the dress racks. Fishing around for a moment, he finally pulled out a fluorescent pink (and very small-looking) leotard complete with a tutu. "There!"
"Ugh!" Ash flinched at the costume in total disgust while Jason just stared at it.
Urge… to not imagine her… in that outfit… failing…
"Isn't this a great colour for you?" The koala asked, not even noticing her reaction.
"I can't tell, it's melting my eyes." Jason snapped out of his daydream and stifled a chuckle at her deadpan reply. "You got anything in black?"
"Black?" Buster asked in shock as if she'd said a bad word. "What, you-you want everyone to think you're going to a funeral? Think you're some kinda artsy-fartsy type? No, no, no, no, no." Dragging a stool over to the next rack, he flicked through some of the costumes as Ash begrudgingly followed him. Both hers and Jason's faces dropped in repulsion when Buster finally revealed an even worse outfit: a sparkling, frilly lavender dress.
"Bingo! Pop star princess!" He held it up, smiling obliviously.
Pop star princess? Did he even listen to her song yesterday? This koala is impossible!
But before either of them could object, a loud bang resounded throughout the building. Everyone nearly jumped out of their skins as the entire theatre instantly became shrouded in darkness.
"Okay, everybody, don't panic. Don't panic." Buster said, trying to maintain order as Jason and all the other contestants began gathering round, inquiring about what was going on whilst trying not to bump into one another.
"Talk to me, Crawley."
"Uh, when did we last pay the power company, Mr Moon?" she asked, fumbling around in the darkness.
"Oh, for Pete's sake." The koala muttered, prying Miss Crawley's searching hands off his face. He then turned to face the others, attempting to put on his most convincing smile. Whether he was trying to convince himself or the contestants was anyone's guess.
"Okay, don't worry, everybody. I will take care of this." He announced reassuringly, "In the meantime, you will continue to rehearse… in the dark!" It was Jason and Ash who announced their thoughts at the same time.
"What?"
"Heh?"
"But I can't see anything!" Rosita protested.
"Don't you worry, Rosita! I have glowsticks!" her rotund partner announced, pulling out two glowsticks from absolutely nowhere and snapping them, instantly making them glow green. He then began shaking them like a pair of marachas as everyone stared.
"Great!" Buster called behind him as he ran towards the exit. "Use this time to shake off those first day inhibitions and I'll be right back."
"Okay, you heard him! Back to work now! Come on, everybody." Miss Crawley announced firmly, ushering everyone back to their rooms before anyone could object. Closing the door behind him, Jason gazed back down at the song sheet in his paw. Then at the CD player. Finally, a brief but loud and very annoyed sigh escaped his lips; it was clear from their conversation that there were going be more than a few creative differences between him and Buster.
"Stupid high octaves…" The porcupine unceremoniously dropped his sheet out of his grasp and let it flutter down onto the floorboards.
Just keep your promise to Grandpa and put up with this until it's all over.
"Fine, ya stupid conscience. Kindly shut up." Jason muttered, scowling upwards at his forehead before sighing again, albeit in a more defeated tone. With hesitance, he bent down and picked up the paper once more.
"Let's get this over with."
And to all you crazy shippers out there, don't you guys worry. They'll be plenty of Ash and Jason interaction in the next chapter, plus some bonding with Meena too. ;)
*I do not own the rights of the movie 'Sing'. All rights go to Illumination Entertainment.