“ENCORE!!!”

“ENCORE!!!”

“ENCORE!!!”

I took deep breaths after I sang the last lyrics. My chest is heavy, and there’s sweat all over my body. The bright stage lights shone brightly above us, and the cheering from the crowd was deafening. I still have the microphone in my hand and am ready to drop it on stage and head out. But the cheering from the fans is leading me on to sing one more song.

I looked to my left, and there stood my best friend, Zoey, and my cousin, Christine. They are also breathing heavily, and they seem exhausted. But with the look on their faces, they seem ready to perform one more time.

I looked to my right, and there stood my two brothers, Mike and Daniel. They, too, are tired, but I could see in their eyes that they were ready, just like me and the other girls.

I look further behind me, and standing backstage is our manager, Collins. He beckoned for me to get off stage. We already did two encores and should’ve ended the show a while ago. But with the fans being so supportive, it’s difficult not to give them what they want.

Collins kept beckoning, and I could tell he was getting frustrated. The others looked at me as they waited for my signal. I am the leader, after all, and they were ready to go with what I thought was best. I look at them and then at Collins. The noise from the fans became so loud that I could feel the stage below shaking. I still felt the thrill, knowing that I had to make a decision quickly.

I’ve made up my mind. Likewise, I mouthed out to Collins, “Sorry,” and then turned to the drummer on stage and gave him a signal to give us a beat. The drummer did likewise, and just by the sound of the drums, the fans went roaring like crazy. Collins is annoyed, but he can pull my ears later. We have fans to please.

The others looked at me and smiled. They also wanted this. It looks like I made the right call. Soon after the drummer starts to beat the drums, the pianist starts to play a tune, and then the entire instrumental music band behind us starts to play a lovely pop melody. My left foot automatically tapped on the stage floor, following the beat, and my entire team also followed suit. The fans kept roaring like crazy. I put the microphone to my lips, and I felt the adrenaline take its course. I’ve always loved this feeling.

“ARE YOU READY TO DO THIS ONE MORE TIME?” I screamed out to the fans, and in response, the fans screamed back. I smiled because I also wanted this.

“LET’S DO THIS!”

***

“OMG, I have never felt this tired in my life,” said Zoey as she sat on the couch after we all came off-stage and rushed to one of the dressing rooms.

Mike and Daniel took the opposite couch, taking up the entire space. Christine jumped on the other sofa with Zoey, and since I was last in the room, I took the stool.

“Today was just awesome,” said Mike. “Did you see how the girls were crying out to me when I did my killer move? I totally rocked it tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know,” muttered Daniel. “But I’m the youngest and the cutest. They were probably calling out to me more.”

“Want to check out the social media and read the comments?” Mike challenged Daniel.

“You’re on. If I win, you get to clean my room for a week.”

“Deal.” Mike and Daniel shook hands while the rest of us groaned.

“Seriously? You’re doing that again? I think we all know who’s going to win,” said Christine.

“Hey, we’ve been famous for a couple of years, and people change their minds all the time,” Mike says. “Just because Daniel won last time doesn’t mean I can’t.”

“Whatever,” I said. Sometimes you can’t talk them out of it. I just roll my eyes, like I always do.

“Isn’t Collins supposed to meet us here? He’s the one holding on to our phones, right?” Daniel asked.

“If I’m right, he’s probably mad at us for not listening to him,” I said. “He’s going to punish us in one way or another.”

“You’re darn right, I will!” came a voice at the door.

The five of us turned to the open door, and there stood our manager, Collins. The look on his red face is quite frightening, and it’s even harder to look away. There was a sudden change in the air when he entered the room. It’s as if he’s going to burst into a ball of lightning and zap us dead. We continued to stare at him as he came to stand right beside me.

“Why didn’t you guys listen to me when I told you to get off the stage?” Collins asked. “Our time was up, and instead you went on to perform three more songs.”

“That’s my fault, Collins,” I said. “If you have to blame anyone, then you should blame me.”

“No, I better blame myself. I should have disciplined you guys a little more.”

“Aw, don’t beat yourself up,” said Zoey. “We all wanted to be there a little longer. And besides, we did put up one hell of a show, didn’t we?”

Collins lets out a sigh as he continues to stare at each of us. He knows Zoey is right.

“Okay, you guys really killed it out there,” said Collins with a tired smile. “I’m just waiting for Lee to get here with the ratings.”

“YES!!!!” The five of us cheered, and we all gave each other high-fives, including Collins.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you,” said Collins, a little too stern, but even that didn’t spoil our mood. We laughed, and Collins smiled.

I looked at Collins, then went on to stare at the rest of my group. I can’t help but feel glad. We really came a long way to reach where we are now. Climbing up to stardom hasn’t been easy.

Collins first noticed our talent two years ago at a talent show in high school. I recruited my childhood best friend, Zoey, my cousin, Christine, who is more like a blood sister to me, and my two adorable yet annoying brothers. We had signed up for the talent show as a singing-dance group. We called ourselves “The Toxins.”

We really killed it that day. With our amazing talent for singing, rapping, and dancing, we rocked the entire school. Everyone was up on their feet and cheering like we were already celebrities. We won the talent show. Our parents were there