We Are The Winners

It was between us and Moldova.

“Australia, from the public you receive,” the hosts paused. I held my breath. Although the pause was only for a few seconds, it felt like an eternity. An eternity in which I died.

“Three Hundred and seventeen points.”

Huh?

“Which means the winner for the Solstice contest this year is Australia.”

Huh?

I turned to the others. They were celebrating. Why were they celebrating?

“Did they say we won?” I asked them.

“Yes,” Stephanie replied.

“We did?” I asked again.

“Yes!” she reiterated.

“Australia?” I asked once more, still doubting her.

“We’re Australia right?”

“Yeah,” I replied.

“So we won!”

We actually did it! I can’t believe I actually won.

Glitter fell from the sky.

Budor looked devastated. I hoped his defeat would kill the old man. I hoped his heart could handle the stress. I should see if he would be interested in collaborating on a song one day.

Our band began to celebrate, giving each other hugs, cameras were in our faces, and I was in utter shock. It couldn’t be real.

I glanced back over to the other band members. Noah and Jane were embracing, tears in their eyes. I couldn’t tell who was more happy between them.

Darcy was busy dominating Jet. Her tongue going deep down his throat. I would have to have a word with her, but not now. I was too busy trying to take everything else in.

Luca hadn’t moved, and God knows how many party pies he had eaten. How could he be so calm throughout all this?

“Luca?” I asked.

“Yeah?”

“We won.”

“Yeah.”

“Aren’t you a little devoid of emotions for such an event?”

“Like I said, we would win. The stars predicted it,” he replied nonchalantly.

“Aren’t you even a little surprised?”

“Not really.”

“Really?”

“I was confident in our skill,” he replied before biting into the pie. I managed to catch a smile before he did so.

Pete was Pete. He was over the moon with excitement. I caught him just as he leaned in and kissed Stephanie on the cheek. I don’t think it was romantic. The two of them never seemed to have any sparks flying between them. I think it was more of a ‘yay, we won’ sort of kiss.

Everyone else was busy making out. I wanted that too. I turned to Marco, hoping he would kiss me too.

The moment we locked eyes, I gave him a large smile as tears poured down my face. I was so happy, but I was also so overwhelmed by everything. I had to be careful not to ruin the makeup.

He stood up, and slowly, a smile crept over his face.

“Congratulations, the best man won,” he commented.

“But you didn’t,” I replied.

“Exactly, you did,” he bonked me on the nose.

I rubbed my nose while he spread his arms wide. I fell into them, resting my head on his chest. I could hear his heartbeat as he put his hand on my head.

“Well done.”

I gazed up into his eyes, which sparkled under the falling glitter. He leaned in and locked lips with me. People were squealing, but I didn’t care. I allowed it, took it in, I wanted his everything.

“Blake,” Stephanie interrupted our passionate moment.

“Yeah? What?” I replied. Normally, I would be irritated, but it turns out that winning Solstice was more than enough to make every minor irritation go away.

“I hate to interrupt you, but don’t forget—you still have to go up and perform,” Stephanie prodded, pointing towards the stage.

Eh? We had to perform again?

“Huh?”

“The winning performance.” She pulled an ‘are you fucking serious face’ at my confusion.

Fuck, I totally forgot about that bit. I wasn’t mentally prepared to perform. I hadn’t listened to Bette Davis Eyes yet for good luck. If I went up now, I was screwed.

Well fuck it, we won, who cares.

“You guys ready?” I asked them.

Pete leaned back, cracking his back.

“I was born ready.”

“I... Guess...” Noah responded through his tears. Jane was carefully patting his tears with a tissue.

“Jet will be ready.” Darcy offered on his behalf, gripping his collar with her hands as he cried.

“Give me a second,” Luca scoffed down the last of the pie, “alright, I’m good too.”

“Alright, let’s rock,” I issued the command, and we began our walk to the stage.

Techies were hastily rushing about hooking up wire packs and microphones, shoving earpieces into our ears, and touching places reserved for Marco, although I knew it was all for the cause. We had to get set up in record time, all while walking uninterrupted towards the stage.

Solo acts would’ve been hard enough. As a band, we would have been a nightmare. God there was a lot to prepare. I honestly think they had the toughest job of all.

We continued to get applause, and more and more glitter fell from the sky. I think there was more glitter than air at this point. They could honestly tone it down a little.

When we reached the stage, some of our gear had already been set up; the rest was quickly being brought onto the stage.

The hosts ushered us towards them.

We slowly approached, and they handed us the glass trophy. I was expecting it to be a bit stronger. Instead, it felt flimsy, like I could easily break it. Then again, you would have to be pretty careless to break a Solstice trophy.

“Congratulations to Jane Doe and the Cadavers, representing Australia. How does winning the Solstice Song Contest feel?” the host asked.

“Unreal,” I responded without considering the consequence of such an honest reaction.

The host didn’t laugh. They simply smiled.

“Have you got anything to say to your fans?” they continued.

“Huh?”

One of the hosts whispered.

“Go give a winning speech. We need just a bit more time to set up your staging.”

Speech? I had to give a speech? Fuck!

─── ༻ ☼ ༺ ───

End of Chapter 43