Stardust & Scars

CHAPTER 10: Under The Lights

AIRA'S POV

The curtain rose.

For one second, I forgot how to breathe.

The lights were brighter than I expected.

They hit my eyes so hard that I couldn't see the audience clearly.

All I could see were silhouettes.

Rows and rows of people.

Executives.

Trainers.

Staff.

Some trainees who had been watching us for weeks.

I could hear my heartbeat.

Pum.

Pum.

Pum.

The music started.

I moved.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

The first formation came naturally.

My body remembered everything.

The countless repetitions.

The bruises.

The shouting.

The late nights.

The hunger.

The mistakes.

Everything had led to this moment.

I looked toward Mika.

She was already in position.

Sienna followed.

Luna was in the center.

For the first time, the four of us weren't practicing.

We were performing.

---

The first verse began.

I sang.

My voice was softer than usual.

I remembered what the vocal coach had told me.

Huwag mong isipin ang camera.

So I didn't.

I looked forward.

I imagined there was no audience.

No executives.

No judgment.

Only the song.

Only us.

Then the chorus came.

We moved together.

Mika's movements were sharp.

Sienna's expressions had changed completely.

Luna—

Luna looked like she belonged there.

Like she had been born under those lights.

For a moment, I understood why people noticed her.

Then came the first transition.

The one I had missed so many times.

My stomach tightened.

I moved.

Turn.

Step.

Drop.

Recover.

Perfect.

I didn't miss.

I wanted to cry.

But I smiled.

---

MIKA'S POV

The stage was everything I imagined.

And nothing like I imagined.

The lights were hot.

My shoes felt tighter.

My body was exhausted.

But the moment the music started, I forgot all of it.

I danced.

Every move had a purpose.

Every expression.

Every turn.

I could hear the beat.

I could hear my breathing.

I could hear the crowd reacting.

Then I saw one of the executives watching me.

I almost lost focus.

Huwag.

I remembered my trainer.

Kapag nasa entablado ka, walang oras para matakot.

So I smiled.

I danced harder.

Then came my center part.

The choreography gave me eight counts alone.

I stepped forward.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

I turned.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

The crowd reacted.

It was small.

Just a few sounds.

But I heard it.

Someone liked what I did.

For the first time, I understood why people sacrificed everything for this.

That feeling.

That one second.

It was addictive.

I wanted more.

I wanted the entire room to know my name.

---

SIENNA'S POV

My hands were cold.

The song reached my part.

I stepped forward.

This was the section I had been most afraid of.

My voice.

My lyrics.

My story.

I took a breath.

Then sang.

The room became quiet.

I couldn't see anyone.

I only heard my own voice.

For the first time, I wasn't singing because a trainer told me to.

I wasn't singing because I needed to pass an evaluation.

I was singing because I wanted someone to understand.

The words came out naturally.

I remembered the songwriting room.

The notebook.

The line I almost erased.

The dream I had been afraid to say out loud.

I continued.

When I finished my part, I stepped back.

Aira looked at me.

She smiled.

I smiled back.

Then the final chorus began.

All four of us moved together.

And suddenly—

I didn't care if we were selected.

Not for that moment.

I was already exactly where I wanted to be.

Onstage.

With them.

---

LUNA'S POV

The lights didn't scare me.

They never had.

What scared me was the person sitting in the audience.

I saw him.

The same man.

The one who had been watching me for weeks.

He wasn't looking at the performance.

He was looking at me.

Our eyes met.

For a moment, everything else disappeared.

I remembered the warning.

Kapag naging bahagi ng performance group ang tatlong kasama mo... magiging mas mahirap itago.

I looked away.

The choreography continued.

But my mind was somewhere else.

Then Aira moved beside me.

Mika took the next position.

Sienna followed.

I looked at them.

And suddenly, I forgot the warning.

I forgot the management office.

I forgot the messages.

I forgot everything.

I danced.

Not for management.

Not for the executives.

Not for the person watching me.

For them.

For us.

The final beat came.

We hit the last position.

Silence.

Then applause.

Real applause.

Not loud.

Not overwhelming.

But real.

We stayed frozen for a second.

Then bowed.

The curtain began to fall.

---

BACKSTAGE

The moment we stepped behind the curtain, Mika grabbed Aira.

"Nagawa natin!"

Aira laughed.

"Oo!"

Sienna was almost crying.

"Grabe."

Mika hugged her.

"Ang galing mo!"

"Ikaw rin!"

Aira joined them.

Then Luna.

For a few seconds, the four of us were simply hugging.

Four girls.

Sweaty.

Exhausted.

Shaking.

But smiling.

"Ang galing natin."

Mika laughed.

"Oo."

Aira looked at Luna.

"Ikaw!"

Luna laughed.

"Ano?"

"Grabe ka sa stage."

Mika nodded.

"Parang ibang tao."

Luna smiled.

"Salamat."

Sienna looked at her.

"Masaya ka?"

Luna nodded.

"Oo."

And she meant it.

At least for that moment.

---

Then the choreographer entered.

"Magaling."

Everyone stopped.

The choreographer rarely complimented anyone.

"Salamat po."

"May mga mali."

Everyone's smiles faded.

"Pero mas marami kayong tama."

Mika whispered.

"Pwede na."

The choreographer heard her.

"Hindi pa."

Mika immediately shut up.

Everyone laughed.

Then the choreographer looked at the twelve trainees.

"Maghintay kayo."

She left.

The girls exchanged looks.

Aira whispered.

"Resulta na."

Mika nodded.

"Kinakabahan ako."

Sienna took a deep breath.

Luna didn't say anything.

---

MIKA'S POV

The waiting was worse than the performance.

We sat backstage for almost forty minutes.

Nobody knew what was happening.

Some trainees were crying.

Others were praying.

One girl kept walking back and forth.

I tried to stay calm.

I couldn't.

"Aira."

"Hmm?"

"Kung hindi ako mapili..."

She looked at me.

"Mapipili ka."

"Pero kung hindi?"

"Magpapatuloy tayo."

I looked at her.

"Sigurado?"

"Oo."

Sienna nodded.

"Oo."

Luna looked at us.

"Oo."

I smiled.

"Salamat."

Then the door opened.

The choreographer entered.

Behind her were three executives.

Everyone stood.

The room became silent.

The director stepped forward.

"Una sa lahat, salamat sa inyong lahat."

He looked at the trainees.

"Alam naming mahirap ang pinagdaanan ninyo."

Nobody spoke.

"May ilan sa inyo na malaki ang improvement."

He began reading names.

"Jasmine."

The girl gasped.

"Rafael."

Another trainee stepped forward.

"Bianca."

Another.

My heart was beating faster.

Then—

"Mika Santos."

I froze.

"Po?"

The director looked at me.

"Ikaw."

My eyes widened.

I stepped forward.

I could hear someone behind me whisper.

"Grabe."

The director continued.

"Aira Valdez."

Aira covered her mouth.

She stepped forward.

"Sienna Cruz."

Sienna's eyes filled with tears.

Then—

"Luna Reyes."

The room went silent.

Luna stepped forward.

Four names.

Us.

The four of us.

I looked at them.

We made it.

But the director wasn't finished.

"Ang apat na ito ay isasama sa isang special development team."

My heart stopped.

"Special development team?"

The director nodded.

"Oo."

He looked at us.

"At kasama ninyo ang isa pang trainee."

He called the name.

A girl stepped forward.

I recognized her immediately.

The older trainee.

The one who had been questioning us.

The one who had hidden Aira's shoe.

She walked toward us.

She smiled.

"Magandang araw."

I didn't like the feeling in my stomach.

---

AIRA'S POV

The five of us were standing together.

Four friends.

One rival.

The director continued.

"Simula bukas, magkakaroon kayo ng mas mahigpit na training."

Mika looked excited.

I felt nervous.

Sienna looked curious.

Luna looked unreadable.

The fifth girl smiled.

Then the director said:

"At hindi lahat sa inyo ay mananatili."

My smile disappeared.

"Sa loob ng susunod na tatlong buwan, susuriin namin kung sino ang may kakayahang maging bahagi ng future lineup."

Three months.

Future lineup.

The words echoed in my head.

This wasn't a simple training program anymore.

This was competition.

Real competition.

The director left.

The room slowly began to empty.

The fifth girl approached us.

"Congrats."

Mika nodded.

"Salamat."

She looked at me.

"Masaya ka?"

"Opo."

She smiled.

"Good."

Then she looked at Luna.

"Ikaw rin."

Luna didn't answer.

The girl walked away.

Mika watched her.

"Ang creepy."

Sienna laughed softly.

"Medyo."

I looked at Luna.

She was staring after the girl.

"Luna?"

She looked at me.

"Ha?"

"Okay ka lang?"

She smiled.

"Oo."

But her eyes said something else.

---

LUNA'S POV

I knew her.

Not personally.

But I knew the name.

The management had mentioned her before.

Elise Marquez.

Nineteen.

Three years as a trainee.

Strong dancer.

Good stage presence.

High evaluation scores.

And now—

she was standing beside us.

The management didn't choose her randomly.

I knew that.

She looked at me.

And smiled.

I smiled back.

But something about her eyes told me she knew more than she was saying.

That night, I received another message.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

«Mag-ingat ka kay Elise.»

I stared at the screen.

Another message followed.

«Hindi siya napili para sumama sa inyo dahil magaling siya.»

I stopped breathing.

Then—

«Pinili siya dahil kailangan niya kayong paghiwa-hiwalayin.»

I immediately locked my phone.

My hands were shaking.

I looked across the dorm.

Aira was laughing with Mika.

Sienna was writing something.

They looked happy.

They had no idea.

I looked down at my phone.

One final message appeared.

«At tandaan mo, Luna.»

«Sa limang pangalan, isa lang ang kailangang mawala.»

My heart pounded.

I looked at the three girls.

And for the first time since entering the agency—

I was afraid of the dream.

Not because I might lose it.

But because I was beginning to wonder who would have to lose something else for me to keep it.