A/N: I am soooooo sorry about the wait!! This chapter is dedicated to hersheygal since she gave me one of her own childhood memories to base it off of:D So sorry Hershey if I got the teacher wrong or the ages or something. I could ask you but didn't really feel like it. Anyways, please read and enjoy!! This will be taking place during Roger's childhood.

Disclaimer: I don't own RENT or Roger, which means I don't own Adam Pascal. (nervous twitch)

I'm Ready For My Close Up

The Choir of Doom!

Growing up I think it would be safe to say that my mother had a warped view of me. She saw me as a little boy who delighted in washing my hands and making sure that my shoe laces were straight at all times of the day. Unfortunately I was a bit more excited about life than that and was constantly trying to find ways to express myself. So one day my sweet, but confused, mother heard me in my room when I was in about third or fourth grade trying out some singing. It wasn't anything serious, just a rock song I had heard on my father's radio the other day and had taken a liking to but to my mother this opened up all kinds of possibilities. So she sneakily did something that I had no idea was coming. She signed me up for choir.

(Flashback)

Roger Davis looked around nervously before hesitantly opening the door before him. He was afraid that someone would see him walking into the choir room, of all places! He would just die if someone like Paul caught him in the act and was given decent teasing material for practically the rest of the year. Which was another ten months.

"I hate my life," the nine year old grumbled and hastily slipped inside the door. Before him he saw a horrible and possibly permanently scarring sight. A room full of annoying, giggly girls and one other unhappy little boy met Roger's eyes and quite frankly it terrified him. With an unhappy sigh he took a seat next to the lonely looking boy and gave a weak smile.

"I'm David," the dark headed boy said softly and held out his hand for a handshake. Roger grasped the other boy's hand and gave it a firm shake.

"Roger," he replied seriously. Just then the choir teacher walked into the room and beamed at all the children. She wasn't quite young but she wasn't old either. Her blonde hair didn't show any streaks of gray but there were creases next to her eyes, as if she had spent a lifetime of smiling. Roger cocked a blonde eyebrow at her. As kind as she seemed he wanted to pin the blame on someone for his being there so he decided to choose her.

"Welcome kids to the exciting world of choir. I'm your teacher, Mrs. Smith," the woman said lightly and proceeded to ask each child to say their own name. Something about wanting to get everyone acquainted properly. Roger highly doubted that sitting a stupid circle and repeating their names to the other kids was going to help them be each others best friend.

"Hi, I'm Kate and I LOVE CHOCOLATE!!" one blonde little girl squealed and the other girls around her tittered excitedly. Roger rolled his eyes but when his turn came he of course participated.

"I'm Roger," he said gruffly and averted his eyes from the gossiping girls. It reminded him way too much of Susan G. Rider, something he would rather not recall.

"I'm Stacy," another girl piped up next to Roger and so the next ten minutes went. Finally Mrs. Smith stood up and began to talk about the choir schedule, which Roger was happy to tune out. All he remembered was something about a Christmas concert during, when else, Christmas. He also obediently took a copy of the schedule to show his parents to sign saying that they don't have any conflicts with the concert dates.

Roger prayed to whatever's out there that there were too many conflicts.

On the way out however Mrs. Smith stopped him to say how much she appreciated him coming.

"I could tell you didn't really want to be here today Roger and I want to thank you for giving choir a fair chance," the kind woman said. Roger just nodded and put on a convincing smile.

"Yeah, it should be lots of fun," he lied smoothly. Mrs. Smith beamed at him and then turned to Kate who seemed to want to babble about what she was going to wear to the Christmas concert.

(End flashback)

So from then on David and I became friends during choir practice. We didn't become BEST buds or anything but we kind of had to like each other if we were going to survive the Christmas concert. So from the first meeting I spent my time avoiding the numerous bars of chocolate flung at me from Kate and her friends and dodging around singing solo in front of the teacher.

But then… something happened about three months before the Christmas concert that changed my life.

(Flashback)

Roger gave a sigh and began to head back to the choir room. Choir had gotten out early that afternoon but he had left a folder containing important homework on his chair. So, with a heavy heart, Roger reopened the door and opened his mouth to give an excuse to his reappearance. Though the sound of skillful guitar chords quickly shut his mouth as well as the sound of a female operatic voice filling the room.

Mrs. Smith looked up to see the intruder but smiled warmly when she saw Roger standing in the doorway.

"Oh hello Roger… I was just playing one of my favorite records," she explained sweetly and motioned for the boy to come closer. Mesmerized by the music, Roger slipped into a chair closest to the record player and listened intently. Mrs. Smith smiled and moved the needle back on the record and starting the song over.

"What is it called?" Roger asked softly, finding his voice at last. Mrs. Smith looked up again as she too had been lost in the music and replied just as softly.

"This song is called Musetta's Waltz from the opera La Boheme." Roger must have looked confused for Mrs. Smith began to explain in a hushed tone. "Musetta is trying to attract the attention of Marcello but he ignores her. By the end of the song though, he succumbs to her." Roger was once more silenced by the music and the lyrics that he couldn't understand.

"Quando men vo soletta per la via,

la gente sosta e mira

e la bellezza mia tutta ricerca in me

de capo a pie'…"

Marcello

"Legatemi all seggiola!

Musetta

"…ed assaporo allor la bramosia

sottil, che da gli occhi traspira

e dai palesi vezzi intender sa

alle cculte beltá.

Cosí l'effluvio del desío tutta m'aggira,

Felice mi fa!"

Roger sat in solemn silence. Part of him wanted to ask what the Italian singers were saying but the rest of him felt that he didn't really didn't need to know. Finally as the song came to a close Roger looked at his teacher.

"Could you teach me that song… on guitar?" he asked nervously. Mrs. Smith frowned slightly.

"Sadly I don't know the guitar Roger," she replied regretfully. "But I do know someone who teaches it… perhaps you can ask your parents to take you to him." Roger nodded and took the business card that Mrs. Smith handed him absent-mindedly.

Ever since that incident Roger began to grow fond of the perky choir teacher.

(End flashback)

I suppose I fell in love with that when I heard the guitar musical interlude. It just totally blew me away and for the first time I really began to appreciate the effect that music can have on people. I instantly became good friends with Mrs. Smith and I threw myself into choir because for the first time I really realized that singing was fun. Of course, I was always cautious so that Paul would never find out but that didn't stop me from totally worshiping the choir.

Needless to say Mrs. Smith opened my eyes up to so many things around me. And I did learn the famous guitar piece from Musetta's Waltz in time. But before I could ever even perform it for her something happened. She was leaving the state.

(Flashback)

"What do you mean you're going away?" Roger cried as a sad looking Mrs. Smith relayed the news of her moving to him during one of their after school meetings. He would grade papers for her and she would have him listen to all of her records. She smiled at him and tried her best to explain.

"Roger, my husband got a job in a different state. I have to go with him," she tried to explain. Roger nodded dejectedly as he placed the last graded paper on the neat pile he had created.

"But the choir…" Roger protested weakly.

"I won't be leaving before the concert and after that a new choir teacher will be hired," Mrs. Smith countered quickly. Roger frowned and instead turned to look at the record player.

"I'll miss you," he finally responded. Mrs. Smith smiled and placed a hand on the troubled youth's shoulder.

"You are one of my best students Roger Davis and I will probably never meet another fourth grader with as much potential as you." Roger smiled at her then and walked over to his backpack. "How is Musetta's Waltz coming?" the teacher asked suddenly. Roger shrugged before responding.

"I'm starting to get it." And with that Roger left the room with a slightly heavy heart.

(End flashback)

I actually saw her again… Mrs. Smith I mean. I was playing a gig at a bar with my band mates and as I was taking a quick break I saw her and her husband there. She looked much older now and several of the other young people at the sniggered at the couple. But I couldn't laugh with my friends because I had recognized her. I think she recognized me too because she smiled really sweetly at me before turning back to her husband to whisper something to him.

And I'm sure you know what song I played in between our two "big hits" "Decapitation Hurts" and "Piss Off Mr. President". And I think she cried but then again I couldn't really tell. I just knew that I was so happy to have finally played it for my old choir teacher Mrs. Smith.

A/N: Okay… I think that was a little weird. But I personally liked the outcome a lot (wow I really dramatized your memory hersheygal huh?? Lol!!) but let me know what you thought!! I'm actually in a very Roger mood so I might be updating A LOT sooner than I did this time. I promise.