Stacey re-entered the auditorium and snuck back to her seat between. Down on the central stage area, Beryl was talking about dealing with the pressure and limelight of stardom.
"Feeling better?" Ken asked and Endo leaned over him to hear her answer.
"Yeah. Thanks, guys."
"Good on you," Flail grinned at her. "You honestly didn't miss that much. The only thing worth seeing was how almost everybody here is already with an agency. It looks like independents like Ken and Endo, you and me are pretty scarce. Most everyone else has awards, certificates and trophies. Looks like it'll be a hard slog for us."
"Right. Thanks."
Stacey turned her eyes back to the front and Telea caught her eye. Stacey smiled at Telea's querying look and showed her two thumbs up. Telea smiled with relief and nodded, looking elsewhere.
It was nice and warm in the auditorium. Unlike the previous few days where Stacey had been shivering in the cold day and night. Now, with a warm atmosphere and the droning voices of different speakers, she began to nod off.
Eventually, Ken put her head on his shoulder and patted her back reassuringly. With that, Stacey fell asleep until she was woken by the roaring cacophony of teenagers who had been freed from the restraints of sitting quietly. Ken shifted under her and Flail poked her awake.
"Hey, Stacey, wake up. We're going to have a mini competition to get a bed allocation. If we win, we get to go into the dormitory building early to choose our own beds. Come on," Flail said.
"Ugh," Stacey stood up and sat back down, stomping her feet at the numbness and ensuing flood of pins and needles that made tears come to her eyes at the intensity. "Hang on. My legs have gone to sleep."
"So has my arm," Ken grinned at her, rolling his shoulder and moving his arm around.
"Sorry about that," Stacey reached out to rub his shoulder. "Let me help you a bit."
"Ooh. You're good at this," Ken exclaimed. "Left a little. Down, down a bit. Yeah. There. You got it."
Stacey continued stomping her feet until the numbness, pins and needles had mostly gone.
"Come to think of it, where have you been sleeping these past few nights. Have you been able to sleep at all? It's been cold the last few nights," Ken said.
"You been sleeping outside?" Endo draped an arm over Stacey's shoulders, pushing Ken out of the way.
"Under some stairs, actually," Stacey admitted. "And yeah, it's been freezing. I don't think I've had a proper sleep ever since I came into town. I had no money. No one would give me any work or food, so I had to make do."
"Respect," Endo nodded. "You're tough, man. I mean, girl," he fumbled with his words. "You know what I mean."
"Yeah," Stacey smiled, glad she had met these boys. They were good kids.
"Come on," Ken urged. "We need to hurry. We only have an hour to come up with a song and choreography."
"Are we a group?" Stacey asked, allowing herself to be swept along.
"Yeah," Ken, Endo and Flail chorussed.
"We decided earlier while you were still asleep on Ken's shoulder," Flail explained.
"Oh."
"Hope you don't mind?"
"Not at all," Stacey shrugged. "I'm easy. Fine by me."
"Cool," Flail said. "I'm glad."
They ran to get a practice room but they were all taken.
"Man, we were too slow," Endo sighed.
"Sorry for holding you guys up," Stacey apologised. "Did you have a plan in mind?"
"I was thinking of that song you sang and played in your audition," Ken told her. "You know, the one where you twisted yourself around while you barely missed a beat. It was a cool song and it's got a good rhythm."
"Oh," Stacey rubbed her nose. "In that case, it is a pity we can't practice it. I don't know if I could do it again."
"Let's just find an empty corner somewhere first," Ken said. "Do you remember how the song goes? Sing it for us. It was pretty simple. Let's try and learn it quick."
Stacey sang the song a few times through and the boys slowly learnt the lyrics of the cheeky song about showing off.
"Hey, what if I do a rap at the end of the song and did something like this?" Flail asked after the four had settled in an empty corner at the back door of the auditorium. All the good spots had already been taken. A camera man had followed them and set up a stationary camera while they discussed.
Flail made up a short rap section and the group discussed the wording and rhythm.
"Yeah. Yeah, that's good," Endo joined in, dancing while Flail rapped.
"Oh, that looks good," Stacey clapped her hands. She cartwheeled in.
"Jump high," Ken demonstrated a star jump. Stacey did so and Endo slid under her legs. Once she had landed, Stacey grabbed Endo by the shoulders, forcing him to stay on his knees.
"Stay still," Stacey told him and flipped over him.
"Ni-ice," Ken whistled. "That's a good idea. We can make it like a comedy routine where we're trying to stay in front - since the song's all about showing off."
"I don't think I can do that many more times though," Stacey said, holding her back. She was way out of shape.
"Don't do the flip then," Ken waved a hand at her. "We don't have much time, so we should keep things simple. We need to work as a group and move to the beat. You can be our main singer since we have no music, since you know the song best. We can separate different parts of the song."
"I can sing first and then do the rap later," Flail raised his hand. "The rest of the time, I can beatbox for you guys."
"You can beatbox? Cool. Respect," Endo gave Flail a fistbump. "I gotta learn some from you. Ken says I'm all outta beat whenever I try."
"Beatboxing the whole time might be tiring for you though," Stacey wrinkled her forehead.
"Nah. This performance is only a few minutes long. We'll be fine," Flail said. "Let's focus on helping you learn some dance moves."
"Yeah. We should work on some harmonising too," Ken agreed.