Help x Mother? x First Step

As I heard Alexis, I turned my head to look at her. When I saw her curious expression, a brilliant idea appeared in my head.

"Would you like to help me with something, sis?"

After that, I explained what it was that I was doing and my big idea to become a big star. At first she looked dubious, but when she saw how excited I was about the whole thing, she smiled. Then she asked the big question "Are you even a good singer?"

Instead of just saying I was, I simply began singing a short fraction of the song I had sung at school. She was shocked when she heard my voice. Guess that was the difference between an experienced and a professional singer. I personally didn't feel that much difference, but I could tell by the feeling in my throat that I was using my vocal chords more efficiently.

Ignoring her surprised expression, I asked her if I was a good singer teasingly. She immediately pouted and called me a meanie, which earned her a chuckle from me.

"What I need help with is... choosing a song"

I had a few songs already thought of, I could remember the lyrics for a lot of songs, which seemed weird to me as I didn't try and memorize any. Guess that those were residual memories or a gift from Truck-sama, didn't matter any way.

My first song had to leave a mark of both quality and uniqueness. For that I had an idea. There were no songs that expressed anger. Everything expressed sadness, regret, loneliness, happiness, etc. But I couldn't find a single song that expressed anger. And that was what I was going to do for my first song. I had the feelings and I had the lyrics, now I just needed to choose a melody. And for that, my sister was going to be my guinea pig.

*

We spent around an hour in my room just trying to choose a melody, and at first she seemed to be unhappy with the kind of songs I was singing. I used a raspier and stronger voice. I put a ton more emotion. I sang as if I was performing in front of a crowd. She could feel every ounce of anger and remorse I felt, and she knew that I actually felt like that.

"You... you haven't really forgiven them, have you?"

I could only smile dryly. I wanted to avoid the topic, and thankfully, she was understanding enough to not push for an answer. As much as I wanted to, I knew exactly what them "being sorry" meant. They just felt guilty and were treating me better to make themselves feel better. They thought that way they would erase the guilt, but once something is broken it can't go back to being the same, even if fixed.

After sighing, I simply told her to choose the rhythm and lyrics she liked the most, and in the end she picked one of the songs that I really wanted to sing and that I would've released at a later date anyways. Bitter Taste, by Three Days Grace.

*

(Alain's Mother POV) (Bitter Taste by Three Days Grace – I really recommend you to play the song, it's a good jam and it helps with immersion)

I could hear a lot of noise coming from Alain's room, so I decided to go check on what he was doing. I knew that he was going to pick up music as a hobby, and I certainly hoped that he enjoyed it. Then I heard him singing.

"Just let me say one thing~"

Just that one line I heard was filled with anger and frustration. I couldn't help but think back on how easily he seemed to have forgiven us. I had my doubts about it, and this increased them. I tried being a better mother, but I knew he was smart and a very sensible kid. His father and I... we couldn't help but want to feel like we were making up for all the pain we caused him. But we knew that it was impossible.

"Betrayed, disgraced. You've been erased~"

He hadn't forgiven us. He just pretended to keep this fragile family together. He was being the real adult in this situation for the sake of his siblings and our own. He had become someone totally different than the boy I remembered... 'Who am I to say that? I never really knew him'

Unknown to even myself, a tear dropped from my eye, then another one and another one. His voice was coarse and it felt like he was still in pain. I had no right to cry. He was the one who should've cried and been angry, but he didn't. It felt like he didn't even bother with us anymore. I had felt it when talking to him. His smile was there and his words were there, but he wasn't. He didn't really want to be with us. The only time I saw him actually smiling was when he was playing with Cameron or teasing Alexis. They were his real family. We weren't. We couldn't accept him and when we tried, it was too late.

*

(Back to Alan's POV)

"The bitter taste... of you~"

Now that was a song done and over with. Now I just needed to render the video and upload it. Luckily that was the short part, as my computer was powerful enough to process the video quickly. It had that wholesome feeling of an amateur video, but the audio quality was squeaky clean, since I bought one of the best mics available.

Now that the song was finished and the video uploaded, I just had to upload a story on Pictagram to promote the video and also show everyone my handsome face while talking.

When I opened Pictagram I almost fell on my butt. My followers had suddenly grown from the measly thousand I had before to almost ten thousand! "I have 9857 followers, bloody hell! Oops, sorry for yelling!"

As it would seem, the effect that the video of me singing during lunch had was way bigger than I expected. The video had already reached a hundred thousand views and a lot of people were liking my comment, reason why my Pictagram was now the first comment available for reading. Even my classmate, instead of being the jealous fuck he could've been, actually linked my comment to the video and added my just made Pictagram to the description of the same. He even linked my channel! I would look for him tomorrow and thank him, he helped me a lot.

Turning the camera on and aiming the frontal camera at me, I began recording the story.

"Hello everyone! I'm Alan Bennet, an aspiring singer and a second year student at Kindredville High! I just uploaded my first original song to my DueTube channel, which is linked to this story so just swipe up and you'll be redirected to the video! Hope you like it and see you next week with a cover!"

Once I stopped recording I uploaded the story with the video linked to it. There was only one problem now.

'How am I going to face everyone at school now?'