JCray1992, I'll give you a hint what Steff is gonna sing in the final show: it's the title of the story.
Also yes, I invoked the No Celebrities Were Harmed trope in this chapter because I'm dreadful with animal pun names.
Anywho, hope you enjoy this chapter with plenty of adorableness!
Once again, Steff awoke buzzing with excitement.
Her morning routine played out the same way as it had yesterday: washed, dressed, out the door and in a taxi within a mere ten minutes. Now that her chance was set in stone, she didn't plan to waste a single minute by being sluggish. Leaping out of the taxi, the skunk glanced at the Moon Theatre's clock above the entrance pointing to 8:30. As she began ascending the theatre steps, a feminine voice interrupted her eager thoughts.
"Good morning!"
Looking to her left, Steff noticed the pig from yesterday reaching the top step next to her, a friendly smile on her face.
"Oh, hi!" The skunk smiled in return, stepping aside to hold the door open for her.
"Oh, thank you." The pig said politely before walking inside.
"No problem." Steff replied as she followed suite. "You're Rosita, right?"
"That's right, and you must be Steff."
"Uh-huh. Sorry that we were never properly introduced yesterday." The two walked alongside one another through the foyer. "So you're doing a duo act with... Gunter, was it?"
An uneasy smile graced Rosita's lips. "Yeah, something to, uh, 'spice things up' onstage, as Mr. Moon put it."
"Well I hope it goes okay for you both." Steff chuckled at the memory of her rotund partner. "That Gunter seems like quite the spirited type."
"Heh, he sure is." Rosita chuckled too, albeit more nervously. "Honestly he seems more adept at dancing than I am."
"Oh, I'm sure he'll be happy to help you out if you're feeling anxious." The skunk said, giving her a reassuring pat on the arm. "Heck, for all you know, you'll be a pro at dancing by tomorrow's rehearsal."
Rosita felt her nerves ease somewhat as they both pushed open the doors to the auditorium and made their way past the countless rows of seats. "Thank you, Steff. Well here's hoping his energy doesn't wear me down."
Once they both made it onto the stage, Rosita was immediately greeted by her partner who was beaming with ecstasy.
"Ah, Rosita! Are you, like, totally ready to get ze singing and dancing juices flowing?"
As the two pigs engaged in a chat, Steff looked around at the other contestants waiting onstage. Just like yesterday, the frog trio were talking amongst themselves whilst Pete the camel gazed absent-mindedly around the theatre. Mike simply stood with his arms folded, seemingly uninterested in chatting with anyone. From the looks of it, Ash hadn't arrived yet. Remembering how the porcupine often arrived to classes a minute late back in high school, Steff turned her attention to the gorilla gazing around the amphitheatre.
"Morning, Johnny!"
Turning toward her, Johnny smiled and held out his clenched hand for a fist bump, which she happily accepted. "Hey, Steff. You sleep alright?"
"Yeah, yourself?"
"Pretty good." The gorilla said, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "Looking forward to this?"
"You bet!" Steff quickly straightened her glasses when her excited nod nearly made them fall off. "No doubt this week's gonna be busy but it'll all be worth it for the results."
Hers and the contestants' voices gradually went silent as, out of the corner of her eye, Buster Moon strode through the amphitheatre doors with Miss Crawly plodding along behind.
"Good morning, folks!" The koala said, clipboard in hand as he dashed up the stage steps. "Now I hope you've all had a good night's sleep because you've got one busy day ahead of you." They all quickly gathered in an orderly line, with Steff placing herself between Johnny and the frogs. Whilst Buster began pacing in front of them, his lizard assistant finally made it up the steps and walked behind him, handing out sheets of paper to everyone.
"This contest is war. This stage is the battlefield. Your song is your weapon." The koala enunciated as Steff took her own sheet from Miss Crawly with a thankful nod. "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."
As the others regarded their papers with interest, Steff quietly prayed that, by some miracle, one of her chosen songs was Diamonds Are Forever.
Before she could glance down at her sheet, her ears picked up the sound of approaching footsteps. Looking to her left, Steff felt her heart flutter as Ash took her place at the end of the line. Buster also took notice of her arrival and walked over to her.
"Ah, talked some sense into that boyfriend of yours?" He asked, flicking through some sheets on his clipboard. Ash rolled her gleaming blue eyes.
"Lance is an artist, but I wouldn't expect you to understand that."
"You're right, I don't understand that at all." As he handed the porcupine her own sheet, Steff couldn't help fighting back a giggle at the koala's bluntness about Lance's skills whilst Ash looked totally baffled. Buster then began making his way backstage, nonchalantly avoiding any props and equipment in his path as everyone followed him in an optimistic hubbub.
"Now you'll notice each list also includes my costume and performance suggestions. Okay, Miss Crawly will show you to your rehearsal spaces. Now let's get to work."
"'Scuse me? Mr. Moon?" Johnny caught up to him, gesturing to his sheet with mild confusion. "For some reason, it says here that I should be playing the piano?"
"Yes!" Buster replied, 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 Crawly! We're gonna need some piano lessons over here!" Buster called without missing a beat.
"Yes, sir!" The lizard responded as he took a cup of coffee from the refreshment tray in her quivering grip. "Up the stairs, Johnny, and I'll be right along."
"And, Pete, you're in here."
"You got it, Mr. Moon!" The camel walked into an empty rehearsal space while Johnny started making his way up the aged staircase. Steff's ears pricked up at the sound of bickering coming from the large rehearsal room the frogs were in. Buster quickly put the cup back and ran in to de-escalate the situation.
"Alright, Rosita and Gunter, you both take the big rehearsal space here." Miss Crawly put her tray down and took over directing the others. "Ash, dearie, you go to the one at the end there. And Steff, if you could use the one next to Pete over he-what? Hey, come on, outta here! Shoo!"
Steff quickly stepped aside as the lizard shooed the same red panda quintet from yesterday out. As they ran out the fire door giggling, the skunk looked to her right to see Mike standing with his arms folded, his song sheet lying on the floor next to him.
"Hey, umm, Mike, was it?" She asked, holding her door open with a polite smile. "You can share my rehearsal space if you want to."
"Pfft, like I need one." The mouse scoffed haughtily. "I already know I got talent. Last thing I need is to share a room with any a' these amateurs. No offense there, Stench."
Steff frowned at her new unwanted nickname. "It's Steff."
"Eh, whatever." Mike dismissively turned on his heel and swaggered away as if he owned the whole theatre. Steff watched him with distaste as she grabbed a coffee cup off Miss Crawly's tray.
So much for getting friendly with everybody.
Making a mental note to steer clear of him for the rest of rehearsal week, the skunk shook her head and went into her now-empty rehearsal space. The wall in front of her was shining wood while the other two were giant windows gazing into the rehearsal rooms either side, each with a large red curtain for privacy. And in the centre was a single chair and a CD player with, presumably, a CD containing her selected songs.
It was then Steff suddenly realizing she still hadn't taken the time to look at her list. Lifting the paper up to eye level, the skunk studied each of her song choices:
Holding Out for a Hero by Billie Taylor
Angel of the Morning by Juice Newhart
No One by Alisha Locks
My Heart Will Go On by Selina Dyon
Bleeding Love by Liana Lois
If We Hold On Together by Diane Rose
Stronger by Kerry Clayton
I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Winnie Houghton
Examining the mainly R&B-laden list, Steff figured it was kind of a long shot that her exact ideal song would have been on it. She finally gave a small nod of acceptance.
"Hmm… okay, I think I can work with these."
The skunk turned toward her open door just in time to see Ash descending the steps from her rehearsal space, not looking happy.
"Hey, Moon! You gave me the wrong list." She said, holding her own song sheet between her fingers distastefully. "Cheesy pop's not exactly my style."
Steff's eyebrows furrowed at the word 'pop'. Had the koala not listened to her friend's audition yesterday?
"Style! I'm glad you brought that up." Buster put down his clipboard and jumped up onto a trunk next to the clothes racks, fishing through the different dresses and coats. "Now let's see..."
He finally pulled out a fluorescent pink, and very small-looking, leotard complete with a tutu. "There!"
"Ugh!" Ash and Steff both flinched at the garish costume in disgust.
"Isn't this a great colour for you?"
"I can't tell, it's melting my eyes." Steff tittered at her deadpan reply. "You got anything in black?"
"Black? 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 other costumes as Ash begrudgingly followed. Her and Steff's faces dropped in repulsion as Buster fished out an even worse outfit.
"Bingo! Pop star princess!" He held up a sparkling frilly lavender dress, smiling obliviously.
Before either girls could object, Steff nearly jumped out of her skin as a large bang resonated throughout the theatre, the entire building being plunged into darkness.
"Okay, everybody, don't panic. Don't panic." Buster said, trying to maintain order as Steff and the others all began crowding round, asking what was going on whilst trying not to bump into each other.
"Gah! And what the heck is that horrible smell?" Mike spluttered, pinching his nose. Steff winced as she took notice of the small green cloud trailing behind her from her rehearsal space, Pete and the frog trio leaning away from her.
"Sorry, I-I spray gas whenever I get startled."
"Oh, perfect." The mouse fanned the air around him with his hat, rolling his eyes. "The lights are out and now this place reeks of sewage. As if this rehearsal couldn't start off any worse."
"I'm sorry, it's involuntary!" The skunk said sheepishly.
"Yeah, back off, you little jerk!" Some of Steff's embarrassment melted away at Ash vehemently defending her from the pompous rodent.
"Alright, alright, everybody please calm down!" Buster interrupted, albeit while waving his own hand in front of his nose. "Talk to me, Crawly?"
"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 Crawly's searching hands off his face. "Okay, don't worry, everybody. I will take care of this. In the meantime, you will continue to rehearse… in the dark!"
"What?" Ash and Steff asked in confused unison.
"But I can't see anything!" Rosita protested.
"Don't you worry, Rosita! I have glowsticks!" Her partner announced, pulling two glowsticks out of nowhere and snapping them, instantly making them glow green.
"Ooh, could I have one, Gunter?" Steff asked whilst the others stared at the pig shaking them like maracas.
"Ja, sure thing!" He replied, tossing one of them to her.
"Great!" Buster called behind him as he ran past Johnny up the staircase. "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 Crawly announced, ushering everyone back to their spaces before anyone could object.
"You'd better stay far away from me for the rest a' the week, Stench." Mike pointed a warning finger at Steff as he trudged away grouchily. She watched him disdainfully before mouthing a 'thank you' to Ash, who smiled in return.
"Hey, um, Johnny, could you maybe open a window up there?" She called up to the gorilla going up the stairs.
"Sure thing, Steff!"
Shaking that awkward scene out of her mind, Steff made her way back to her rehearsal space, leaving the door open. Holding her glowstick, she fished around in her dress pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. The skunk opened it out and scanned each written note on her grandma's performances she had studied last night:
* Elegant - blue dress
* Move smoothly
* Strut - one foot in front of the other
* Eye fluttering - flirty smile (blow a kiss?)
* Sweeping tail move
She didn't even realise how long she'd been reading the notes over and over again until the lights finally flickered back on. Closing her door at last, Steff then picked her song sheet off the floor and looked at each of the choices. While she knew the lyrics to two of them off by heart, she wasn't too familiar with the other songs. Looking up the words to Holding Out for a Hero on her phone, Steff pressed the play button on her CD player and started to practice.
She went through each song around three times just to fully get the hang of them. She planned on mastering all the lyrics before applying her grandma's signature moves to any of them. Taking a peek at her phone, the skunk saw that over two hours had passed since the power had been restored.
I could use a break. She thought to herself, stretching her back before switching off the CD player. Opening her door, Steff noticed an elephant with two tiny pigtails donning a light blue hoodie. She was exiting Rosita and Gunter's rehearsal space, a refreshments tray clutched in her trunk.
"Oh, hey there!" She called out with a friendly wave, catching her attention. "Are you a new addition to the show?"
"Uh, sorta." She responded rather quietly, before offering out her large hand with a shy smile. "I'm Meena, Mr. Moon's new stagehand."
Steff smiled back and shook her outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you, Meena. My name's Steff."
"I'm, uh, handling refreshments while Miss Crawly's upstairs helping Johnny." Meena said, gesturing to the tray she was holding. "Would you like anything?"
"Ooh, yes please. I was starting to feel a little peckish." The elephant held out the tray, a neatly sliced sponge cake balanced on it. "Ooh, this looks nice."
"Yeah, I do a lot of baking with my mom." Meena replied as the skunk grabbed a piece and took a bite. The vanilla flavour made her taste buds sing as the slice crumbled in her mouth. Having baked plenty of desserts in her time working at Brewtiful, she knew a good cake when she tasted one.
"Mmm! Oh, my gosh, this is amazing!" She cried, savouring the taste. "The texture's so fluffy!"
Opening her eyes, she noticed Ash come out of her own rehearsal space.
"Hey, Steff. What's up?"
"Ash, you've gotta try this cake Meena baked, it's so good!" Steff said, waving her half-eaten slice in her hand. While not one for having desserts until evening, the porcupine couldn't help being curious. After reaching the bottom of the steps, she took a piece for herself and bit into it.
"Mmm." She finally said after a few seconds of chewing. "That does taste really good."
"Right?" Steff asked with a smile.
Ash looked up at the elephant who gave a bashful smile. "You made this?"
"Yeah, me and my mom."
"Well I gotta say, you've got some really good baking skills, Meena." Ash said, her and Steff taking another bite of their slices.
"No kidding!"
"Well I'm glad you two like it." Meena replied. "I made it for Mr. Moon but thought I'd share it with everyone else too."
"You know, I work at my parents' cafe downtown." Steff finished off her piece, brushing the crumbs off her hands. "If you're ever looking for a new job in future, I could put in a good word and we'd be happy to have you on board."
Folding her ears over her blushing cheeks, Meena gave a meek 'thanks' before hurrying off to the frog trio's rehearsal space. The faint sound of the others practicing in their respective rooms filled the backstage area. Once she'd eaten the last of her slice, Ash wiped her hand on the edge of her shirt before turning to her friend.
"So, Steff, how's your rehearsing going?"
"Pretty good." The skunk nodded. "I'm just practicing my songs one by one so I can figure out which ones will best suit my performance onstage."
"What kind of artists do you have?" Ash asked, raising an interested eyebrow.
"Mainly R&B and ballad stuff, Alisha Locks, Selina Dyon, the like."
"Oh, wow, that's cool." The porcupine gave her friend a smile. "Well with how great your audition was, I have no doubt you'll kill it out on that stage."
"Heh. Th-Thanks, Ash." That compliment made Steff blush beneath her fur. Her face then fell as she thought back to her friend's earlier confrontation with Buster. "I'm just sorry your own song list doesn't match your style."
Ash let out an annoyed sigh, reaching into her jean pocket. "Yeah, it's like that koala didn't even listen to my performance yesterday." Pulling out her song sheet, she showed it to Steff.
"I mean, look at these choices. This is all stuff my grandparents think all teenage girls listen to." Taking the paper from her, Steff adjusted her glasses and looked over the words, her bafflement only growing with each song title she read.
"Milly Cylas? The Spice Chicks?" Her eyes widened at one particular choice. "Oh, jeez, that stupid Carla Mae Jetson song?"
"Unfortunately, yes." The porcupine replied in a defeated tone.
"Something tells me he's never interacted with a teenager in his life."
Ash shuddered at the memory of that grating tune echoing through every hallway. "Remember when everyone at school wouldn't stop singing it for, like, a month?"
"Don't remind me." Steff liked her fair share of pop but there was only so much she could listen to certain songs over and over. "I could never walk to my locker without hearing that dang chorus."
The skunk suddenly chuckled as a much better memory of that song resurfaced.
"What?" Ash asked.
"Remember that time in science class?" Steff's grin only grew as she reminisced. "Bridget was at the front of the class and wouldn't stop humming it under her breath. And you were in a bad mood that morning..."
"Oh, yeah, 'cause I hadn't gotten any sleep." Beginning to remember it more clearly, Ash's mood quickly brightened. The two teens stifled a laugh as Steff continued.
"Yeah, so you grabbed your apple out of your bag, went "Ah, shut up" and threw it at her head..."
"And it got impaled on her horn!" The porcupine broke out into hysterics along with Steff, clutching her stomach. "God, I remember she was so ticked!"
"'Oh, my God, Johansson! You got juice on my new tooop!'" Steff put on her best whiny voice, placing a hand on her hip to complete the imitation. The two spent the next minute doubling over with laughter at the memory.
"I nearly busted a gut from laughing that morning." Steff sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. Ash finally calmed down as well, breathing a sigh.
"If you ask me, she had it coming after the bathroom incident."
"Oh, definitely." Glancing at Ash's open door, the skunk noticed her friend's beloved guitar leaning against the room's mirror.
"Hey, Ash?"
"Hmm?"
"So if you're stuck doing cheesy pop for your act, how come I heard you playing your guitar earlier?"
"Oh, that." The porcupine ran her fingers through a couple of her quills coyly. "That was a guitar solo from Who Needs Ya?, one of Lance's songs."
Steff just managed to not grimace at the mention of her boyfriend's name. "Oh, yeah, I remember him saying he writes his own music."
"He sure does. Every gig we've played has been a smash thanks to his writing. I just like to play them by myself from time to time." She gestured to her song sheet. "Honestly I was just putting these songs off. Trust me, I've heard half of these enough times to have the words ingrained into my brain."
Steff gave a chuckle. "You and me both."
After a moment, Ash let out a blissful sigh.
"I really missed you after high school, Steff." She smiled warmly. "It feels great to be having these talks again."
"Yeah. It really does." The skunk smiled in turn, gazing into her friend's luminous eyes. It wasn't until she glanced at the time on her phone that she broke out of her trance.
"Well we'd better get back to rehearsing." Steff said, clearing her throat. "There's plenty of time this week for more catching up."
"Yep, guess I'll have to get started on my cheesy pop at some point today." Ash responded, rolling her eyes as she stuffed her paper back into her jeans.
"Well best of luck to you, Ash." Steff said in sympathy.
"And I can't wait to hear your performance for the show." The porcupine said, never breaking eye contact as she took a step back toward her room. "I'm sure it's gonna be awesome."
Neither of them looked away until they made it back to their rehearsal spaces. Turning back toward her CD player, Steff took out her written notes and gave them another look before sighing.
"I sure hope so."
Both Ash and Lance laughed on the couch together. After returning home from rehearsal that evening, she had wasted no time telling Lance about Buster's outlandish requests for her routine.
"Oh, man, these are, like, the cheesiest songs of all time!" Lance said, jabbing the song sheet with his finger.
"I know, right?" Ash chuckled as her boyfriend got off the couch to grab his guitar, still cracking up. "I mean, I was even thinking of writing my own song instead."
That made Lance stop laughing.
"Wait, what? Your own song?" He asked with an amused scoff.
"Well, yeah."
"Look, if you wanna win that money, just do what the koala says."
"Why? You think I can't write my own song?" Ash asked accusingly.
"Whoa, whoa." Lance raised his hands as he strode past her. "I'm just sayin', not everyone can write songs, okay? I know I make it look easy, babe, but it's not."
Looking down at the song sheet in her hands, Ash frowned. Surely she could write a song if she wanted to. If her boyfriend did it all the time, there was no reason she couldn't give it a try too. Then again, Lance was basically the expert at song-writing between the two of them, having done it way before they had even met. Did she really want to risk their chances of winning that prize money on writing a song that may not be as good as his ones?
Ash sighed to herself; maybe it would be for the best if she just stuck to singing for the contest, even if it was cheesy pop.
The moment she's gotten back from rehearsal, Steff was still restless.
Wanting to get to her bedroom to continue working on her movements for the stage, the skunk had wolfed down her ma's cabbage casserole without taking time to absorb its taste. Quickly placing her dish and cutlery in the dishwasher, she whirled around and gave her moms, still seated at the table, a quick peck on the cheek.
"Thanks for the dinner, Ma, gotta get back to practicing, love you both!"
Before Steff could turn to dash out of the kitchen, her hand was gently grabbed by her porcupine parent.
"Steff, sweetheart, you've been rehearsing all day." said Andrea in concern. "Can't you take a breather this evening?"
"But, Ma, I've got something really special planned for my routine!" Steff begged. "I promise you, it's gonna blow you guys away!"
"I'm sure it will, Steff, but your ma's right." Cassie replied gently, putting her fork down. "It's great that you're excited for this, but we don't want you wearing yourself down before the contest even begins. Even Grandma took her time to rest in-between practice sessions."
The young skunk took a moment to consider; if she was going to make either of her parents proud with her performance, she would need to conserve all her energy. Steff breathed a deep sigh before finally sitting back down in her chair.
"Okay, Moms. I'll take it easy."
Smiling kindly, her parents went back to finishing off their dinner. While she waited politely, hundreds of thoughts bounced about inside Steff's head. Which song would best suit her. How she would incorporate her grandma's elegant dances into it. Whether she could pull it off.
Whether she would ever be as great as Julie had been.
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The movie Sing belongs to Illumination Entertainment. I only own my OC, Steff Pearce.