Sing Part Two (Johnny X Jamie)

Chapter 5: Tension With the Others

Ash

Ash laid on her bed, thinking of everything that went down between her and Ryan.

Earlier

"So you write your own songs too?" she asked as they sat away from the others.

"Yeah. But it's for the saxophone. Not guitars," he told her with slight annoyance.

"What do you mean?" Ash wondered.

"I don't like the guitar. It's just strumming strings that make one noise," Ryan said.

"No. You tune it to make it sound different and writing a song for a guitar is much more challenging yet worth it than for the saxophone," she argued.

"Is that so? 'Cause I saw you perform your song and that sounded like a child wrote it," he remarked.

"What?" Ash demanded.

"You heard me? And Mr. Moon partnered us up for a song. We are going with a song I wrote. End of discussion," Ryan decided.

Back to Present

Ash couldn't process why this was happening. He reminded her of Lance, how they always went with songs he wrote, wouldn't let her write one of her own, and just didn't care.

She then got a call from a blocked number. She shrugged and answered it.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Ash, babe. You got to believe me. I'm done with Becky--" Lance started.

"Oops, wrong number," Ash said then hung up the phone.

Meena

Meena finished explaining what happened to her with Jerry.

"So we are partnered to do a song for the contest, but he's like Mike. What do I do?" Meena wondered.

"Well, honey. You should talk to Mr. Moon--" her mom started.

"Show that frog a thing or two about singing! Be confident like when you first sang in front of the crowd!" her grandpa exclaimed.

"That's easier said than done, Grandpa. I was confident because it was something I love. Being partnered with someone who doesn't think you can really perform is different," Meena explained sadly.

"He really said that?" her grandmother asked.

"Yes ma'am," Meena answered sadly.

"Well, definitely tell him off!" her grandpa yelled.

"Dad!" her mom scolded then told Meena, "Honey, don't let him get to you. Talk with someone who may have experienced the same thing and to Mr. Moon."

Meena nodded, went to her room, picked up her phone, and dialed a number.

"Hello?" Rosita's voice picked up.

"Rosita, is Jamie there?" Meena asked.

Rosita and Jamie

Once Jamie and Rosita got home, Jamie immediately went up to her room and shut and locked the door. Rosita sighed and sat at the table until Norman came in.

"Hi, Rosita," he greeted.

"Hi, Norman," she said sadly.

Norman took notice and asked as he sat beside her, "What's wrong, honey?"

Rosita sighed and answered, "Today, I got a call from Mr. Moon, saying that he had an idea for his next show. He got all the original cast together and said it was a contest between us and this new group. At first they seemed nice, but once Mr. Moon and Miss Crawly left, they were completely different. It didn't affect me that much, but the gorilla in the group got to Jamie."

"How so?" he asked.

"She said they were going to destroy us, she would steal Johnny from Jamie, that she was prettier than her, and that Jamie couldn't sing," she answered.

Before Norman could react, the phone rang. Rosita signaled she'd get it and picked it up.

"Hello?" she said.

"Rosita, is Jamie there?" Meena asked.

"Yeah. Hold on a second," Rosita told her and said to Norman, "It's Meena. She needs to talk to Jamie. I'll be right back."

Norman nodded then she went to Jamie's room and knocked on her door.

"Rosita, I'm not really in the mood to talk," Jamie told her.

"Jamie, it's Meena. She wants to talk to you," Rosita explained.

Jamie got off her bed, answered the door, accepted the phone from Rosita, and answered, "Hello?"

"Hi, Jamie. Can we talk?" Meena asked.

Rosita had already left, so Jamie shut the door and told her, "Sure. What's up?"

"I've had some trouble with my new partner," Meena said.

Jamie's eyes widened a little as she heard this.

"You too?" she asked.

"Yeah. What happened with you?" Meena wondered.

"Brooke told me they were going to destroy us, that she was going to steal Johnny from me, that she was prettier than me, and that I couldn't sing," Jamie answered.

"What? But he's crazy about you and you are an amazing singer," Meena said.

"Thanks, Meena. But she did get me thinking. What if...Johnny was happier with her? I mean except for her personality, she is pretty," Jamie wondered.

"Jamie, that's what she wants you to think. Don't let her get in your head," Meena told her.

Jamie knew that, but she couldn't help but wonder about this. Would he really be happy with someone like Brooke?

"So, what happened with you?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Well, my partner said I couldn't really perform," Meena told her.

"What? He's crazy. You are amazing!" Jamie exclaimed.

"Thanks, Jamie. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one going through this," Meena replied.

"No problem. But I don't think it's just us," Jamie said.

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A/N Oh my gosh! This is getting really crazy!