Dance Alone

I was open to many things waking me in the morning. Given the previous day, I wouldn’t even have been surprised if I awoke to Jet being dominated by Darcy. Though I think somewhere in me, I was glad that wasn’t the thing that caused me to stir. The one thing I was not expecting was a hundred messages from Stephanie.

“Blake, we need to talk ASAP! DON’T YOU DARE GHOST ME!”

What could she want? Honestly, I took it relatively easy, and my foot no longer hurt. There shouldn’t be anything to complain about.

I knew if I kept her waiting, I would be in more trouble than I suspected I may be in. So, I got changed and rushed off to her room. As I hurriedly made my way down the corridor, I noticed Luca leaving Stephanie’s room.

Seeing Luca put my mind at ease. Luca was an angel. There would be no reason for Stephanie to summon him. If she did, then it must be related to the actual contest.

“What did Steph want?” I asked.

He looked up, noticing me for the first time, and shrugged.

“Oh, she wanted to congratulate me.”

“Congratulate you?”

“I won the baking contest.”

“Ah coo... Wait what?! You won a baking contest?”

“Yeah,” he sighed.

“I knew you said you were planning on going, but I didn’t think you would compete.”

“Yeah, someone called in sick, so I offered.”

“And you won?”

“Yes.”

I gave up trying to reason with Luca. He was a genius, a mad one, but a genius nonetheless. I was just glad he was in our band and not someone else’s. I don’t think we could contend with Luca’s madness.

“So, do you know why Steph wants to see me?”

“Nope, but she looked tired, stressed and quite mad.”

“So I’m a dead man walking?”

Luca didn’t say anything, but he rested his hand on my shoulder.

“Thanks. I guess I’m going to die now.”

“I’ll let the others know.”

“Thanks.” I raised my hand in the air, a parting farewell, as I entered Stephanie’s room.

─── ༻ ☼ ༺ ───

Stephanie looked up as I walked in. I could see in her eyes that she had little to no sleep, and I was a little nervous to find out why. She stood up, something she normally wouldn’t bother with.

“Why do you think I need to see you?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“What’s this then?” She asked as she banged her left hand on the table.

“What’s what?”

“Are you being coy, or do you genuinely not know?”

“Stephanie, I swear I have no idea what you are on about.”

She let out a big sigh.

“Have a look at this.”

She showed a news article on her phone. It was the photo taken yesterday with Marco and the two girls.

“Now see why I might be angry?”

“I took it easy. My ankle is fine. The bruising is all gone,” I tried to reassure her.

“Well, that’s good because you still have practice later. But I was asking about the subjects of the photo.”

“I went to the amusement park with Marco for the day.” I didn’t see what the big deal was.

She slumped into her chair and began to rub her forehead.

“I don’t care if you visit an amusement park, but you can’t go with another country’s representative. How many times do I have to tell you this?”

“What’s so wrong with dating Marco? You don’t care about Noah and Jane, and I’m sure you know there is something going on between Jet and Darcy. Why is it only me?” I had to follow up and ask something that had been on my mind since this whole drama began. “Is it because I’m gay?”

Stephanie looked up, and shock was all over her face.

“What? God no. It’s the Solstice Song Contest. Half the audience is probably queer. I have no doubt many of the contestants are as well. I couldn’t care less about your sexuality.”

“Then why is it such a big deal to you?”

“You are the frontman representing Australia, and Marco represents Italy. You are competing against each other. You are both extremely popular. We can’t have you thinking of throwing the contest for him or getting distracted by him and losing focus on the contest.”

“One, I wouldn’t do that, and two, I can multitask.”

“How’s that been? Have you found a balance between the contest and your love? Because it seems like you haven’t.”

I couldn’t reply. There was some truth in her words. I had to admit that I had been thinking a lot about Marco. But I was still focused on the song contest. I wasn’t going to throw the contest simply because I loved Marco. I wanted to win.

“You spent a night writing songs with him,” she continued. You continue to make mistakes during the rehearsals. We had to reschedule because you twisted your ankle while with him. It’s a distraction and a hindrance to the contest.”

“It was one time,”

“and that could be the difference between winning and not even qualifying. This isn’t another singing contest. The best of the best are here. You have the whole of Australia on your back. If you don’t get your shit together, it falls on all of us.”

“who would even read that article?”

“Enough of them did to be able to identify you. Guess who the hot topic of Geddit is?”

“Isn’t that a good thing? Doesn’t that mean more people are following us?”

“Some will definitely support you, but you will also lose a lot of support. And some of Marco’s obsessed online fans will actively smear you now.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because this isn’t my first rodeo, I’ve seen shit like this happen before.”

“Well, can’t you just fix it later?”

“I’m not going to take the fall if we fail to win because of your antics.”

“Don’t call it antics, and also, just don’t then. I’m not going to throw the competition.”

“Oh, believe me, I’m not taking the fall. speaking of such, I suspect you aren’t interested in what I have to say. But you might listen to the others.”

Others?

─── ༻ ☼ ༺ ───

End of Chapter 23