The next morning, Jamie got up early to meet-up with Meena and Buster at the Moon Theater before rehearsals. To assist in stagehand for the singing competition, so she'll back up for Meena if any technical difficulties happen.
"They're maybe trouble at hand, but while there's Moonlight, and music and love and romance~" Mike sang, standing center stage with the microphone in his tiny hands. Practicing the song that he chose on his won to perform.
Meanwhile, Moon, Meena, and Jamie were in the tech booth on the right side, the two girls setting the mood while getting instructions from the koala.
"Good! Now fade up the spot." Jamie moves the switches as the light above Mike has a nice glow highlighting his small presence. "Let's face the music and dance..." snapping his fingers to the beat and twirls the microphone.
Buster smiles "Good. Now, lower the moon." He was dancing a bit before Miss Crawly went to his side, offering a fresh cup of coffee to which he gladly accepts.
At the same time, Meena walks over to the levers and cables and unhooks the one for the moon. There was a brief creaking sound that went off, but nothing else happened.
"Okay, that's normal. It just needs a little knock." Buster reassured glancing back at the young elephant calmly. Meena gives the lever a budge. The moon slowly descending behind Mike adding a nice touch of dramatic effect. The koala grinned. "See? You're getting it!"
"Good job, Meena." Her human friend praised with a silent clap, the elephant's cheeks glowing a soft red, smiling shyly and thanks them softly.
"And while it's still got a chance..."
Miss Crawly sighs "Anyone seen my glass eye? The darn thing keeps popping out..." Jamie shook her head in disapproval, eyes set on the white rodent on stage.
The sound of a metal clanging and a sack slamming into something could be heard in her ears.
"Soon... Whoa!" Mike yelped when the lights feel behind him, jumping forward in fright.
Jamie looking up to see Miss Crawly's eye flying at her, gasping and ducks before it could hit her. "Oh!"
Glancing up to see that Miss Crawly got her eye back into it's rightful place. "Oh boy..." The young girl cringing while getting up slowly with a stretch.
"You almost killed me, jumbo!" Mike pointing accusingly at the turquoise sweater wearing elephant.
"It wasn't me..." Meena defended softly.
"Oh, is that so?" Mike scoffed in disbelief, his tiny arms folded.
Jamie sighs "Hey, instead of accusing Meena for something she didn't do, why don't you continue practicing in a rehearsal space-" she was interrupted by the lights catching on fire, panicked screams leaving Mike and Meena.
Her eyes widen in worry, glancing around and grabbing the fire extinguisher, running out to prevent a fire from spreading.
Buster stood still "Pete?" He turns from hearing some muffled groans behind to see the male down, flinching in shock with gasp.
Jamie notices this and makes eye contact with her elephant friend, "Call 911." Meena quickly taking her phone out and dialing the emergency hotline.
Thankfully, the paramedics arrived quicker than they expected. Taking the poor cow out of harms way, well that was one contestant off. As she got rid of the remaining bits of fire, Johnny, Rosita, Gunter, and Ash walked in to gasp and have horrified looks on their faces at the sight. Oh no...
"What the heck happened in here?!" The teenage porcupine exclaimed in shock.
"Oh my gosh..." The mother pig covering her mouth with her partner, Gunter stays silent and his jaw still hanging.
"It's nothing guys, some ropes got loose and caused the lights to fall while Mike was practicing. Who is okay and in another room currently..." Jamie reassured simply, placing the fire extinguisher down and walks over to the animal group.
"Well, are you guys alright?" Johnny asks with concern, eyes mostly focused on his human friend.
Miss Crawly nods "Nothing to worry about, deary, we're okay." moving the broom across the stage to cleanse it from all the dust and rumble. Meena gave a thumbs up and got a trash bag, using her trunk to carefully lift debris, broken planks and lights inside. Jamie mentioned Pete being leaving the competition due to medical reasons, which brought a bit of sadness in all of them. "You guys should continue rehearsing, we'll handle this."
"Are you sure?" Rosita frowned with her hands together.
"Yes, we're good." She encouraged with a wave of her hand. Meena nodding slowly with a soft smile. "It's okay, don't worry."
"She's right, go back to your rooms everyone." Miss Crawly comfortingly as the group share a look together in hesitance but ultimately return to their places. "Johnny, I'll be right up there to continue our piano lessons in a bit." The elderly iguana smiled and continued sweeping the floor. Earning a small nod from the young gorilla, who shared a quick glance with the human girl before following the others.
Then her ears heard the amphibian trio's distant shouting and fuming as they head for the door, leaving with anger. Glancing at Meena and Miss Crawly having the same looks of confusion and worry written on their faces.
Buster returned with a heavy sigh "All right, we're two acts down. Give me some good news, Miss Crawly!" walking up to the stage. Welp, that answers her question about the situation between Howie, Kai, and Ricky.
The elderly reptilian held a bucket "Oh, it's not as bad as it looks-" then the wooden plank she stood on broke with a snap, Mrs. Crawly being stuck. "Oopsie-daisy..." She giggled nervously.
Jamie walks over to the iguana and tries to lift her out, hands holding her scaly arms.
Buster took a deep breath to maintain his posture and turns to the teenage elephant. "Meena, how would you like to re-audition for the show?"
A smile went across her face. "Really?! Well, yeah..."
The koala beamed "Great!" assisting the young human in pulling Mrs. Crawly out.
"I mean, no!" Meena interjected with a frown.
Buster stopped at her in confusion. "What?" Her human friend glancing every now and then at the situation.
"I mean, yes, I can sing. But, no, I get so nervous and I can't do it. I mean, I would totally do it, but..." Meena stammers anxiously. "No, I... No."
Buster stared at her. "I'm gonna take that as a maybe."
Then, there were giggles heard as the Q-Teez ran inside to rehearse.
"Oh great! Look, they're back! We're gonna come back to this, Meena." Moon placed a pin on their conversation to request the red pandas to join since two acts have left.
As he left, Jamie continued getting Miss Crawly out as the young elephant helped and they managed to get her out. Afterwards, the female iguana leaving them to begin her first piano session with Johnny. Jamie shook her head up at her animal friend. "You should accept the offer, I mean the stage hand thing is pretty good. But I know that you want to be up here than over there."
Meena sighs "I-i know... But I just get so scared, Jamie."
The young girl nods "Well, you've been improving a little bit. So it's a start, don't worry. I know you'll perform in the competition." comfortingly rubbing her large arm gently.
"Thanks, Jamie." The teenage elephant smiles.
Then the Q-Teez walked pass them, heading straight towards the doors. Jamie catching offended looks on their faces, glancing at Meena in confusion what happened now?
Buster following suite "Hey, no! Wait, wait, wait! Don't go! Please!" But it was too late as they were out of the theater, gone like Pete and the frog trio. Rubbing his forehead softly "Well, we still have a lot of contestants I guess..."
"What happened?" Meena asked whilst sweeping some dust with her trunk carrying a bucket of water.
The koala sighs "I tried to communicate with them about how they'll be apart of the show, but they got upset and I don't know why. I'm sure I got the words right..." this gets Jamie to perk a bit at his response and responds. "What exactly did you say to them? Try it on me, I know a bit of Japanese."
Buster paused and took a slow breath. Reiterating the words he spoke to the group that made the young girl's mouth fly open like the red pandas. "O-oh..."
This made the showman's face scrunch into a petrified look. "That bad?!"
She held her hands up "Well, not really. But you basically said that their feet stink..." (I have a best friend that's Japanese and when I re-watched the movie with her. She translated what Buster said which is this XD 😂😂) Meena cringing a little "Oh no..."
Buster facepalms, cursing under his breath in frustration. "Okay, okay, well it's not too bad. We may have lost Pete, Ricki, Howie, and Kai with our stage having a few cracks... but you'll be joining the competition, right Meena?" His eyes filled with uncertainty, the female elephant pauses in doubt but remembers what her human friend said. "I-i... I'll think about it, Mr. Moon."
"Okay, that wasn't a "no" but I'll take it for now." He sighs with a nod as his eyes land on the stage lights and the holes and cracks on the stage. "I can handle doing the floor later but then there's the lights... We need someone to fix them tomorrow at the latest before rehearsals..." He went silent for a few seconds in deep thought.
"I think I remember Johnny mentioning how his dad is a mechanic, with him possibly learning some skills... Maybe I can ask him to do?" Jamie spoke up with a shrug, the grey koala snapping his fingers and points at the girl.
"Great! So you'll do that, I will handle the floor, and Meena might sing for the show. That's good... That's good for now." He smiles widely but you can see how stressed he was at all the problems that sprung about. "Now if you will excuse me, I'll go and check on Ash." and with that he walks away leaving the two girls to see the progress the porcupine was making.
Jamie picks up the fire extinguisher and places it back in it's case, turning to her mammal friend. "I'll be back, I have to ask Johnny on whether or not he could fix the lights as Mr. Moon requested." Meena nods with a quick smile and continues fixing as her companion walks up the stairs to Mrs. Crawly and the teenage ape.
She was about to walk in when a part of her stopped when Johnny played some chords or keys that didn't sound quite right, his fists clenched and pounds them on the keys, groaning softly with irritation.
Miss Crawly nods while pouring some more coffee into her cup. "Yes, that was very bad."
That was her cue, she raises her hand to give the door a gentle knock. "Can I come in?"
Catching the attention of the gorilla and iguana. "Yes."
She twists the knob and pushes it forward, flashing a coy smile. "Hi..."
"Hey..." He greeted softly, still frustrated over how he was doing in piano. Coughing awkwardly, "S-so uhm, how's the stage holdin' up?"
"Not That's actually why I came up here, you know how to fix some technical stuff right?" She asks to which the boy gave a slow nod and yes in response. "Good, because Buster was wondering if you could help by fixing the stage lights tomorrow morning."
"O-oh, oh yeah, sure thing..." He responded quickly with eyes glued onto the instrument.
She noticed his discouraged behavior. "You okay, Johnny?"
"I-it's nothing..." Johnny shook his head only for her to raise an eyebrow at him, knowing how he was feeling. "I'm just a little stressed over not getting the chords or keys right."
She already knew that he was struggling before walking in. "I know... I kind of overheard before I came in..." laughing softly but this only made the male wince in embarrassment.
"Hey, no it's okay. I'm sorry for laughing but it wasn't because of you..." she stops to a deep breath and continued. "You won't get it right away, learning things take time, all it takes is patience, practice, and one step at a time." A bit of Johnny's despair got off his shoulders as he stared at the young girl, who nods with a comforting smile.
"Maybe you can start by memorizing this." Jamie raising her hands and began to play some chords to a song for him to copy.
As the girl teenager taught Johnny how to play the song, correcting and improve. She wouldn't deny how fast he was in learning certain steps, it was quite surprising and impressive. Soon minutes pass that she decided to have him try and play it for her.
"Okay... Give it a try."
(I highly recommend you all to watch "Rocketman" if you haven't yet, especially if u like Taron okiii? I love the movie so much and Elton's music! 😭😍😍)
He finishes and lowered his hands with a huff of breath, turning to his human teacher. "How was that?"
"Not bad... I knew you could do it." A grin hovered her face with happiness.
"Thanks, Jamie." He grinned in gratitude for her and pauses in thought. "Say, would ya like to assist me in fixing the lights tomorrow?"
She bit her lip for a moment. "I don't know... I'm not exactly an early bird when it comes to waking up early." a low chuckle left her gorilla friend which brought a smile onto her face. "But... I'd like that."
"Johnny? Come in. Over." A gruff voice called out with static in it, Jamie glancing around the room in confusion as to where the sound was coming from.
"Oh, Johnny, you're jacket's talking." Miss Crawly shuddered with her finger pointing at it hanging on a clothing rack. The gorilla grabbing his leather jacket and takes a walky-talky out, clicking a button. "Dad, what's going on? Over..." There a pause as he listened to his father's words and nods. "I see... Okay... I'll be there in a bit... Yes, I will now." Sighing sadly once the call ended.
"What's wrong?" Jamie asks with concern over his saddened state returning.
"Something came up, my dad says it involves all of the family to be there. I gotta go..." He began to put his jacket on again with his walky-talky placed inside his pocket. "I'm sorry, thanks for the lesson, Miss Crawly..." He rushed towards the door and twists the knob, pushing the door but stops in his steps. "...and for the help Jamie, I'll see you tomorrow." He made eye contact with her, flashing a genuine smile before exiting the room.
----------------
Okay...
So I haven't updated this in about in about year.
I was honestly quite surprised to receive some comments from you guys to update this, which kind of warms my heart a bit in knowing that you guys like this weird book I created. I would sometimes update other books than the usual ones I have up at the moment. Therefore, why you have this new chapter right now.
But also because-
I AM SO EXCITEDDDDD!!! 😭😍AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
It looks even bigger and better than first movie already from watching it over and over again, but it kind of revealed too much of the story. I think it'll have a slightly darker and tense tone compared to the first film from seeing Clay Calloway's reason to why he stopped making music, along with shots of Rosita and Johnny's fears/anxieties of being unable to do their parts for the show.
Ash seems to better than she was in the previous after her harsh break-up with Lance and I'm very happy for her, alongside Meena, whom they haven't revealed much of what she will be doing but I believe she will be getting a love interest through Alfonso (who is played by Pharrell Williams).
JOHNNY SINGING "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" BY SHAWN MENDES IS SOMETHING I DIDN'T KNOW I NEEDED, I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR WHAT SONGS THEY'LL BE COVERING IN THIS ONE!!! i love taron egerton so friggin much you have no idea and i don't know why, but i think he'll also be getting a potential love interest through letitia wright's character, the cool female cat he asks for help to improve his dance skills (whose name is Vivace or Nooshy but idk if it's either of the two because of Google and IMDB... lmao 😂😂)
As for some of the new characters we got, I don't really like or hate Porsche (played by Halsey) but she seems really confident and cool, her father on the other hand is who I dislike (Jimmy Crystal) his personality reminded me of Simon Cowell that the role would've been perfect for him XD. Vivace is pretty great and I immediately loved her the moment she started speaking and said "I knew you were a weirdo!" to Johnny when he sang in the dessert place.
Once this trailer was released it got me back into the world of Sing, motivating me to continue the story and I still have a good memory as to how I want this to end and move forward!! ✨
So, thanks for being so patient and supportive to have me extend this story!
I also hope u all like the new book cover I made after a long while. I decided to update it!! What do ya think? 💜
I hope you all you like the chapter, stay safe, and remember-
DREAM
BIG
DREAMS!!!
i luv you all 3000!! 💕