Rhythm Inside

The following day, I had to let everyone know we sorted everything out between Marco and me. Almost everybody was fine except Steph—well, she was the opposite of fine.

I am pretty sure she hadn't slept since our semi-final three nights ago. She was showing signs of the caffeine shakes.

Luckily, the news that Marco and I were on good terms eased some of her problems, and she dozed off for a few hours in the afternoon. Too bad we couldn't have the entire day to recoup. Today was the day of the Jury performance and dress rehearsal for the grand final.

I would lie if I said I wasn't nervous going into the performance. Thankfully, I didn't screw it up like last time. In fact, I felt like I smashed it. We moved to the green room, where Stephanie, Darcy and Jane were waiting.

"Blake."

"Yes Stephanie?"

"Good job."

She instantly fell asleep in the green room—a much-earned rest. I couldn't fault her. Hell, I almost fell asleep in it. That being said, I just managed to make it back to my room before utterly collapsing.

This week had been a long, bloody week.

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I woke up the following morning to a finger poking my cheek. I opened one eye to see it was Darcy looking mildly annoyed.

"What?"

"Get up."

"Five more minutes."

"No, I am not rushing your makeup."

"Gah. Fine!"

I reluctantly pulled myself out of bed, only to flop back onto it. I really wanted to get up, but my bed was beckoning me back to it.

"Blake! Quick, get ready. Marco will be here shortly."

Wait what? Marco was coming? How come I didn't know?

I hurriedly got ready.

"When is Marco coming over?"

"I lied."

"What?"

"I needed you out of bed, so I made that up."

"Darcy."

"Yeah?"

"I hate you."

"Love you too."

Today was the big day. It was make-or-break. Although the contest was not until this evening, Darcy was adamant we arrived earlier than any other act so she could ensure our costumes and makeup were perfect. I guess she had a right to argue this, given she was working alone.

I don't understand makeup, but Darcy seemed to think we needed a whole lot of it. It seemed the other acts weren't as fussy with theirs. To be fair, they weren't a cross-dressing band. Besides, not everyone needed it to look good. Marco was as handsome as ever and probably didn't need it on his perfect glowing skin.

Anyway, we sat in the makeup chair, getting the final touch-up, as the other acts came filing in. Maybe it was a good thing we arrived so early because everyone else looked frantic. Meanwhile, we all were pretty relaxed. I had even managed to perform my good-luck concert ritual.

We ended up finding a quiet spot to sit and eat dinner, although the nerves meant we couldn't eat much, except for Luca, who ate all our leftovers. He was the smallest of all of us, and I had no idea where he put all that food.

In the moment of chaos around us, we were surprisingly relaxed.

Noah, who had been flicking through his phone, suddenly stopped. He turned pale.

"Guys!" Noah was shaking.

"What?" I asked.

He looked over at me.

"I don't know how to say this, but the odds," even his voice was quaking.

"I heard we were trending up. Did we drop?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"We are the favourites to win."

Huh?

"You mean?"

He nodded.

We were the favourites? I thought Budor was going to run away with it. How? Like... What?

Luca, Jet, Noah, and I all exchanged glances at each other. All unwilling to accept it.

I was beginning to feel the nerves again. I wish I could push them aside and enjoy myself. Yesterday was somewhat more relaxed, but I still hadn't had a chance to go out and just have fun. I was hoping that would be today. Not if we were the favourites.

Luca walked over and yoinked the phone out of Noah's hand. He scanned it for a few seconds.

"These are the semi-final results. We haven't changed much."

"What? I checked that. It's definitely the current odds."

"Nope. If only they were."

I let out a sigh of relief.

I felt somewhat calmer hearing Luca say they weren't actually the odds.

He returned the phone to Noah and whispered something. I didn't catch it.

"Luca is right. I was wrong. Sorry to get your hopes up."

His tone was a little off, and he remained pale. But both he and Luca agreed it wasn't the actual odds, and I wasn't going to look myself or trust anything Jet would say.

All I could think was, thank God, we weren't the favourites. I couldn't perform under that amount of pressure.

Some more time passed, and gradually, everyone got ready. We all began to socialise to try and ease each other's nerves. Although there was heaps of geopolitical drama going on in the background, this didn't seem to carry over to the contestants. Even antisocial me was beginning to warm up to people.

Marco strolled over, his gorgeous black outfit hugging him in all the right places. A few of the other acts decided to watch on in silence as he embraced me. I rested my head against his chest. I wished I could stay in this position forever.

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. You?"

"Same."

"Good luck tonight."

"Thanks, you too."

He leaned in and gently kissed me, making sure not to smudge any of the makeup Darcy had painstakingly prepared.

Some of the other acts squealed. Who knew we had followers in the contestant pool? I thought everybody knew about us already. But I couldn't pay much attention to them, let alone find out who they were. I was way too embarrassed. I could feel my knees begin to wobble. I envisioned myself as a kind of puddle.

That was the moment we got the signal. A beat of adrenaline ran through me. The show, the final, had begun. 

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End of Chapter 39