Oh, Brother!

Chapter 17

One month for the talent competition.

Riley was working really hard on the new song she wrote – except that she couldn't find the right melody.

She tried to hum different melodies that came up to her head, but none of them worked out. She

"Ugh, I will never get this song done for the competition!" she growled and hit her head on the piano's keyboard.

That's when Sportacus entered the door to her house.

"Having problems with the song?" he asked.

"Yep," she replied, her face still in the keyboard.

"Need any help?" he asked again.

"Nope."

He couldn't help it, but laugh.

"Come on, get up or your face will have the texture of the piano," he laughed.

"Oh, fine..."

"Now, come on! You haven't been outside for days because of this song. Come with me now, Stephanie wants us to see her new dance she preparing for the competition," he dragged her by her arm outside.

*****

When they arrived to the park, Stephanie and the rest of the little kids were already there.

"Hey everybody, look who's here," Sportacus said.

"Oh, hey, Ril- Oh my god, Riley, did you fell asleep on your piano?" Trixie laughed.

"Well, something like that," Riley replied annoyed.

"Good, now that everybody is here, I will let you know that I'm still undecided between two dances," Stephanie said, then press the "play" button and the music begin to play.

The first dance had Disco music, which was pretty nice. The second one had Pop/Rock music, which was also good. But then it hit Riley – this was her inspiration.

When Stephanie done dancing, everybody applauded her, except for Riley, who was still realizing this was the kind of music she was looking for.

"So which dance do you think will be better for the competition? Riley?" Stephanie asked.

"Huh? Um, I don't know, but Stephanie, you are a genius!" Riley said and took off to her house.

"Is she alright?" Stephanie asked.

"I think she just got inspired," Sportacus smiled.

*****

"So, I heard the children and Sportacus saying that Riley just got inspired, which means that she must be finishing her song for the competition right now," Richard said.

"Oh, it's about time! Now all we have to do is find a way that she will record the song, so I could use it and then everybody will think that I can sing," Amanda explained.

"But how do we do that?" Arnold asked.

"Ah, that's when your brother, Chelsea, is getting into the picture," Amanda said, looking at her brunette friend.

"Why do you need Stingy?" Chelsea asked.

"Because he's friends with Ziggy, who is her best friend's brother, and she's also hanging out with those kids a lot, so maybe he can find a way to convince her to record it," Amanda explained.

"But how??"

"Wait, isn't he friends with that techno-guy, what's his name? Um, Pixel?"

******

Riley just finish to compose her song, and invited all of her friends to hear.

They all just loved it!

"Wow, Riley, this song is amazing! I'm sure you're gonna win this competition!" Stephanie said and hugged her friend.

"Oh, thank you, Stephanie," Riley hugged her back.

"I'm really proud of you, love," Nathan came from the other side and kissed her.

"Thanks," she blushed.

"You're going to be great, Riley" Sportacus said.

"Hey, you know, Riley, I just bought some cool software where I can music and record. Maybe you can come later and we can make you a professional instrumental of the song and record you singing," Pixel told her.

"Oh, really, Pixel? That'd be so awesome! So I will come in a couple of hours and we will do it!"

*****

Later that day, Stingy went back home to take care of Piggy, his piggy bank.

"Hey, Stingy..." Chelsea came smiling to his room.

"What do you want, big sister?" he asked, not even looking at her.

"I just wanted to know how are you, and your friends, especially that girl Riley?" she sat on his bed.

"They are all fine, now, talk straight to me, what do you need?" Stingy said.

Chelsea sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I need you to convince Riley to record whatever song she's going to perform with in the competition!"

"She is actually doing it now at Pixel's. But why do you need it?" Stingy asked.

"It's for Amanda," Chelsea said.

"F-For Amanda? Wait, you want to help her cheat!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Now, all I need now is you to go to Pixel and get this recording somehow!"

"No, I'm not helping you! Unless you have something to offer..." he glared at her.

"Um... I will give you my allowance for the next 2 months," she suggested.

"Deal," they shook their hands.

*****

So Stingy went to Pixel's house, an hour and a half after Riley left.

Pixel was about to finish the mixing of the song and was about to burn it to a CD for Riley, to bring it to her tomorrow.

"Hey, Pixel," he said to his friend as he entered.

"Oh, hi, Stingy. I will be with you in a minute, I'm finishing the mix to Riley's song. It's gonna be awesome!" Pixel said.

"Oh, alright... Then I will sit just here, on the couch until you're done," Stingy said and sat quietly.

"And – done! Okay, I will bring us some snacks, then we can play my new video game," he said as he went to the kitchen, leaving Stingy alone.

When Pixel was completely gone, Stingy went quietly to his computer, pulled out his Disk On Key, and copied the MP3 files to it.

He quickly put it back in his pocket, and sat back on the couch.

"So here are the snacks, and here's the game, so get ready, because I'm going to kick your butt!" Pixel laughed.