“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 to show their support, and they were so proud. It was really the happiest day of our lives. It got even more exciting when, at the end of the show, Collins came up to congratulate us and tell us he’s a record producer. He also complimented us on how talented we were; he even thought of signing us with the record company he works for. And did we hesitate to say no? We were all really excited. Our parents, after a long discussion, agreed to it. Everyone else continued to give us their support.
The first year with the record label was hard. At first, we never got the chance to participate in writing our own lyrics for any song. The first debut single we released wasn’t that great, and it was hard to produce another.
When I realized that our careers might as well go down the drain, I suggested to Collins that we, The Toxins, should participate in writing our own songs with other songwriters. He supported the idea, but not the board. When I challenged them, they gave me a lifeline: create a better song and take it to the top of the charts. If it doesn’t, we lose our record deal.
I got to work right away. I always had a thing for writing poetry, so writing lyrics wasn’t difficult. With the help of my group and a few songwriters we worked with, we produced a pretty good track. When Collins and the board got to listen, they loved it. But then came the part where we had to produce a music video. The first one wasn’t so great, so I decided that I should come up with the ideas. The board, along with Collins, trusted me to do a good job, which I did.
Making the music video wasn’t as easy as I thought. When it came to the choreography, we had to practise day and night. We had to create new dance moves and make sure that they were on point and going with the flow. Our choreographer, Jimmy, was very supportive. If it weren’t for him, I don’t know where we would be right now.
I had to work extra hard. I made sure that the location for our music video was perfect, and the film director, Collins, and Lee were helping me out with all the arrangements. Likewise, I even had to organize our wardrobe with Zoey’s help. At that time, things were going just right.
When the day came to shoot the video, I couldn’t help but feel nervous. The preparations took over a month, and I was scared that things weren’t going to turn out right. But Collins gave me the encouragement I needed and told me how good a leader I was. He also told me he had never met someone who was determined enough to try to set up their own music video. That lifted my spirits. When the time came to settle ourselves on set, with the camera rolling and the music playing in the background, I got my confidence back, and I soon started to dance to the song just like we had done during practise, and the whole group followed my lead. It was awesome.
After shooting and editing the music video, it was released on YouTube, and within a few hours, it already had 100,000 views. In the next two days, it soon reached over 10 million views. Our song was in the top ten billboard charts for close to two months.
We soon became famous, and the board kept their word; we began to participate in writing our own songs. And surprisingly, there were so many fashion brands out there demanding our attention. It turns out the music video we released not only attracted music lovers but also the fashion industry. Our wardrobe for the video was insane. And by insane, I mean it completely blew people’s minds. It was then that our record company decided to promote their own fashion line. And in honour of my hard work, they decided to give it the name “The Black Kitty Clothesline.” Black Kitty is a nickname I adopted when I was a little kid, simply because I’ve always loved kittens. My family always called me a cat because nobody could hear me entering a room. As for “black”, well, I am simply African American, and I also just love black cats, though they are believed to bring bad luck.
My stage name simply became Black Kitty, with the initials B.K. Everyone would call me that, including my lovable fans.
Enough of the past; it’s time to look to the future. As if the universe had just read my mind, Lee, our assistant manager, came rushing into the room as if she were being chased by angry squirrels. She came running in her high heels. I was surprised that none of them had broken off yet. She took deep breaths as Collins tried to hold her steady.
“Lee, what’s wrong?” Collins asked. “Did something bad happen?”
The Toxins and I quickly stood. I gave Lee the stool to sit on. Christine went to the dressing table, where there was a jug of water and a glass. She quickly poured the water and gave the glass to Lee. She quickly drank it, and her body relaxed a little.
“Thanks, Christine,” said Lee. “I really needed that.”
“Now, will you please tell me why you came running in like that?” Collins asked.
“Collins, you’d better sit down; otherwise, you’ll faint at what I’m about to tell you,” said Lee, smiling.
“What? What is it?” Zoey asked impatiently.
“I was checking on my email after the show, and I came across something that completely blew my mind,” said Lee.
“What email?” I asked. “Like some fan mail or something?”
“No. I got an email from South Korea. Has any one of you ever heard of YG Entertainment?”
“Yes, I have,” I said. The rest of the Toxins nodded. “It’s an entertainment agency, right?”
“You’re right.” This time, Lee is getting really excited. “They emailed me asking if you guys, The Toxins, would want to collaborate with one of their K-pop groups.”
“Wow, are you serious?” Collins asked. There’s a sudden wave of excitement from all of us in the room. “And which group is that?”
“Wait for it...,” said Lee with a smile as she paused for a while. “It’s BIGBANG!”
“AH!!!!!”
Christine, Zoey, and I yelled like a celebrity just walked into the room. Collins and the boys blocked their ears with their fingers. Lee also joined in as she stood, and the four of us held hands as we jumped up and down like high school girls.
“OMG! This can’t be happening right now!” said Zoey, as she was almost on the verge of crying her eyes out.
“Did I hear you right, Lee?” I asked. I still can’t believe the news. The whole world seemed to be spinning so fast that I felt like I could faint.
“I’m telling the truth,” said Lee as she held her Mac tablet and showed us the email. “You can check it yourselves.”
I took the tablet from her, and everyone surrounded me to read it. The first thing that caught my eye was the YG logo above the letter. It’s definitely them, alright. I’ve seen it a couple of times before. I still can’t believe they asked us to collaborate with one of their own. And with BIGBANG for that matter.
“Wow, this is awesome,” said Daniel. “I have heard some of their songs before; they are awesome.”
“And the fact that we are collaborating with them is giving me goosebumps,” said Zoey, with a smile on her face. “We finally get to go to Korea!”
“I know,” I said. “It’s been my dream destination for quite some time.”
“Does that mean I get to dye my hair any colour I want?” Mike asked. “K-pop superstars love doing that.”
“I would dye my hair pink,” said Christine.
“No way, girlfriend,” said Zoey. “Pink is my colour.”
“I would go for green,” said Mike.
“I would go for blue as long as my hair stands out in spikes,” said Daniel.
“I think I will stick with black, thanks,” I said as I laughed out loud.
“Hey, hold on a minute,” said Collins, raising his hands to calm us down. “No one is dying any of their hair, well, not yet at least. Second of all, the board and I haven’t agreed to all of this yet.”
“Aw!” we muttered out loud in frustration. If there’s anyone who knows how to spoil a moment, it’s Collins.
“But we all want this,” I said. “They would probably think it’s a good idea.”
“I know how this must feel for you,” said Collins. “But we can’t just get on a plane and leave. We need to talk to the board first, and if they agree, we can make preparations and tell YG that we’re coming.”
“I already arranged a meeting with the board, first thing tomorrow morning,” said Lee as she stared at Collins, looking all professional as though she hadn’t gone crazy minutes ago.
“Good, so we wait until tomorrow,” said Collins. “For now, I suggest we head back home to get a good night’s sleep. We’ve had too much to take in for one day, don’t you think?”
We all agreed, and as soon as we changed, we headed for the Chevrolet SUV waiting for us outside. As usual, there were fans waiting. The security had to make way and try to keep the fans under control. As we got into the car, we couldn’t stop talking about YG’s offer.
This is going to be a huge turnaround for all of us, and we knew it. It looked like we weren’t even tired from the performance at the concert, with us being so excited in the car. When we got home, we were still running and blabbering about with excitement. Mike and Daniel even forgot about their deal.
How we ended up falling asleep before midnight, only God knows.
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