Rian Can Sing

Adrian wants to cry, his lack of singing has followed him to this new life and he can't help but lament. The truth is, Adrian wanted to be a singer when he was little. But when he belted out songs those around him would turn an interesting shade of green. So he gave up that dream, but today- singing again, it was fun. But alas, he has no talent.

A certain red head popped up in his head. The lack of singing but building his way up as a world renowned star. The thought quickly left Adrian's mind.

With a huff, he brushed himself off from the swing he was sitting at and looked at this watch. It was time for his Taekwondo lesson.

…

The class paused as the singing from next door resounded through the room. Their teacher, Jin sighed and made his way to the wall and loudly knocked it. The singing stopped and after a few moments a young lady pocked her head in with a frown.

"What" she drawled, twirling her blond hair.

Jin's face turns red. "Yo- your being too loud"

"Yadayadayada, it's a singing class, we're meant to be loud. You don't see me banging at the wall whenever you guys shout" she says while returning back to her class.

"You do!" Jin screams from behind her.

Adrian and his classmate Dan share a grin. Before they could resume their lesson, Adrian can hear a faint "okay now, remember to warm up your voice- repeat after me. Ahh—" before it was drowned out by Jin's "START!"

…

"What are you doing here?" Adrian stares at a grinning Phil and Luke.

"Making sure you know you're my favourite step-brother in law, don't tell Manny this"

"Okay… but why are you outside my class?"

"I'm here to pick you up, let's hang~" Phil wiggles his shoulders and gestured his arms in a "cool" motion.

Then before Adrian can react, Phil and Luke pulls him into the car.

"Does my mum know about this?"

…

"Dammit again?!" Luke screams into a pillow, Adrian cackling behind him.

"What can I say? I'm a gaming genius." Adrian waves the controller around.

Phil grabs Luke's controller. "Rematch! I'll avenge you Luke."

Adrian shrugs. "Phil I've already won the last 5 games against you, what's in it for me?"

Phil slaps a $50 note on the coffee table. "$10!"

"Deal!" Adrian makes a grab for the money but then Phil notices his mistake.

"Wait! I grabbed the wrong note- swap it! Let me swap it!"

"Nuhuh!" Adrian tries to pocket the money.

"Hey! You haven't even won yet."

"Please, I've basically won already."

"Fine! If you win you can keep the 50 but- " Phil begins, mouth forming a mischievous grin, "if I win, you gotta sing for us."

Adrian pales. "How did you—?"

Luke pats Adrian's shoulder, "If there's something you must know about our family, gossip spreads fast."

Adrian sighs and with a spark in his eyes, "you're on!" He grins are Phil.

[Phil's interview]

"I need to show Adrian my cool side. Y'know someone he looks up to. And this-" He picks up the game controller and drops it like a mic, "- is just the beginning."

[interview end]

Mario and Toad position themselves as the countdown begins. Phil and Adrian both focused on the screen.

3

2

1

Start!

Toad dashes out first, Mario following closely behind. The rest of the characters slowly getting overtaken by them. With an expertly timed turn, Toad aka Adrian manoeuvres the track like his backyard creating a larger gap while Mario follows behind pitifully.

As they closed into their last lap, Toad halfway ahead of everyone, a stray banana dropped by Phil in their second lap caused Toad to slip. He spins around but manages to position himself back to normal, the gap being closer than he liked.

Without hesitation, Adrian dropped his own traps and hopping onto a boost when he hears Phil celebrate. Checking the map he sees Phil right behind him, but he didn't worry, the finishing is right there. Except Phil has a red shell on him. He makes eye contact with Phil who flashes a victorious grin. The shell shoots out and lands onto Toad, sending him tumbling.

"First place suckaaa" Phil celebrates jumping up and high-fiving Luke.

Adrian clutches his head. "Nooooo"

[Phil's interview]

"Boom" he drops the controller again and leans back into the couch.

[interview end]

Adrian stands in front of the Dunphy family, somehow Claire, Haley and Alex appearing out of nowhere. Sweaty hands clutching the mic and a song begins to play. Behind him the TV displays the lyrics and title.

"I will always love you by Whitney Houston"

Phil smiles widely, hands holding up a camera.

[Adrian's interview]

"I've always wanted to be a singer."

[interview paused]

Adrian grips the microphone, with an initial breath in, he begins singing.

"IF I shOuld staYy, I woULd oNnLyy be iN yoUrR waYy-"

[interview continues]

"But I wasn't always good at singing"

[interview pauses]

Claire clutches her ears eyes welling up with tears. Haley already long gone from the room and Alex watching horrified.

"sO gOod bYE pLEaSe DoonNt CrYyy"

[interview continues]

"But then I thought-"

[interview pauses]

Phil already ditched the camera in favor of a pillow blocking his ears. Luke has his head burrowed into the sofa.

Adrian uncaring closes his eyes with emotion. His fists clenched and brows furrowed, "ANNNDDD iIiIIi wIllLllLl ALLWaYyYS LoVvEEEE YooOuUuU!!"

[interview continues]

"-who cares what people think. Singing is fun!"

[interview ends]

Adrian ends the song with a flourish. He opens his eyes only to see half of the Dunphy audience still there. Haley and Claire long gone from the room.

"I'm going to be a musician" Adrian announces.

"You're horrible at it!" Alex speaks first.

"I appreciate the honesty Alex, but I know I can make it big!" Adrian says.

Phil and Alex shares a horrified look.

"You're crazy!" Luke shouts.

"I may be a crazy man now- but mark my words! I'm going to be a superstar!" Adrian puts his hands on his hips. He turns to Phil. "Can you take me home? I've got a career to begin"

…

Adrian sits in front of his computer staring at a bright red logo with a white triangle. Slowly he types his username.

Rian Can Sing

And enters. He picks up the camera, positioning it at a blank wall of his room and carefully he places a box on his head. The box contains two tiny eye holes and a circular mouth, all covered by a thin black mesh. It makes quite a humorous image.

Adrian didn't want to reveal himself to anyone nor did he want to use his face card, he wants to work his way up based on skill.

Finally after a few minutes of recording and an hour of editing, he created his first video. Nervously he uploads it,

"Singing until im good at it"

With a final click the video is up and Adrian collapses onto his bed.