Smiling star

Pain for gain

As the number of episodes increased,we got more and more attention.People are already taking sides and we heard the viewer ratings of our show skyrocketed.And Barry keeps on checking our pages and accounts.
"I'm so popular"he smugly says.
"Not notorious?"
"Either way is fine ",he replies.
"You sure?"
"Hey,this is huge"he announces.
"Listen to this,Celan has a pretty voice"he said and bursts out laughing"A ...hahaha..."
I could not help laughing a little.
"Let's see yours then"Celan said and rapidly scrolls on his phone screen.
"Here's an interesting one-'Max heats the party to the max'.I didn't know,is it true Max?Wait,I'm searching for this...where...ah ha'You have dreamy eyes Bay,can I be the dream in your eyes'-not enough..."
"What?"Barry says out loud.
"Check Andy"Nathan says.
"This should be fun"Celan says and starts scrolling again.
"This is the first one-Andy's the most adorable bad boy I've ever seen."
"Hahhaha..."Barry almost collapses laughing.
"Too noisy"Andy tells us.
"I thought you were busy".Max says.
"He's just embarrashed"Barry says with a smile after
Andy went back to doing whatever he was doing.
Celan continues"He's wonderful...blah blah ...such a nice voice..."
"That's boring,change"Barry says.
"I know,J"Celan says and starts his search again.I'm a little curious too.
"So many..."Celan says.
"I'll see..."Barry says and takes the phone from Celan"Jeremy you're my bias forever....skip,he's my dream...yeah,yeah 'Jeremy is more beautiful than me and I'm a girl'...ok.'Your smile belongs to another but it keeps me going,so keep smiling"...by 'waiting for you'what's this?And this is by the same person
'You're a star far away,so you don't see me down here looking at you'..."
"Break's over"Mr Fleming comes
and announces.
"It's not a break.Practice is over for today"Barry replies.
"You can always practice more.Or you can go back to your rooms.You'll need rest for tomorrow"
"Ok".

Our CEO had arranged for our agency seniors to coach us.They are already quiet succesful and they went through a similar project.And our CEO considered they could teach us a lot and guide us.

So Jason and Miles came over to teach us.We were glad to finally meet them personally,they've recently returned from a world tour.They are going to be in charge of our teams.Jason would be our coach.And our CEO was right,they helped a lot.

We went over our preparations and EV reports.He examined our practice and routines.Honestly,he's strict like Mr Fleming and Mr Rerlon but he's much more cool.And he's so much fun too.So awesome.He told us to take care of ourselves and even how to handle cameras.He even told us about Mr Fleming back then.He helped much in our practice.Maybe Miles also helped team B a lot.

Besides Jason and Miles,many other seniors showed up for the performance,which added to the pressure.But pressure has become normal for us.We did the best we could.But most of our seniors voted for team B saying they were a better team and had more stage presence.Even the seniors who visited during practice seemed to favour team B.It's a little disappointing.I'm used to winning but since I joined Xcel,I've not won much.But we did get to join Jason's performance as dancers,which is a rare opportunity.

The days flew by.Practice is increased much more besides our added activities.It's hard but I felt guilty when I rested.It reminds of too many things.So I'd get up and practice more.The same with the rest of the team.None of us wanted to reduce our chances.

Maybe we were too focused on practice,we did not notice a lot of things.One day Andy left hastily after a phone call after practice.I suspected it was his parents and Celan's look confirmed it's more than a guess.Maybe they are still trying to make him quit.

We were busy with our preparations when Taylor barged in and told us Andy got hurt.We raced down.Andy was on the floor and Maven and Hope were trying to hold him up.Some other trainees were there too.
"It's nothing.And I have to leave now"Andy was telling them.
"You can't even move".
"What happened?"I asked.
Mr Fleming rushed in too.
"I fell down " he told us.
"Fell down?"Taylor said.
"More like pushed down",Spin said.
"What?"Celan asked with surprise.
"Some no good ....."
"Alright,let's get you treated first"Mr Fleming said.
Celan picked up Andy's phone and followed.

We gathered around Andy in silence when he was being examined.
"Don't crowd around here"Mr Fleming ordered and we moved a little away.

"Who the hell did that?"Barry asked in anger.
"Some guys,looked like older trainees .I think Jack was also there",Naul told us.
"We thought he knew them.We were coming in and he was racing down the stairs and they said something and some guy tripped him."
"That's just wrong"Nathan said.
"I'm going to beat the hell out of him",Barry said.
"Sure it would deserve him "Lucifer agreed.
"Totally,but not now"Celan said.
"Wait,why was he racing down the stairs?Celan?".I just realised it.
"Probably"he said looking at me"I'll go and check on him".
"Hope he's not hurt much"Taylor said worried.
"I'm certainly going to make him pay"Barry said and started walking followed by Nathan and Hope.I wanted to follow but
"Not now"Max stopped us.

Andy had only scratches on his arms but his leg was injured pretty badly.He was told not to join the next EV if he could.But once he could move around,he resumed practice.We did not want him to get more injured so we tried to stop him.But obviously he listened to no one.And Mr Fleming could not interfere.
"You don't want to lose,do you?"Andy said to us.
"Without me,you're going to be a mess"he said proudly.
"Oh yes,you're an adorable bad boy"Celan said.
"Whatever".

Some days later ,we had our EV.Andy did not make a single mistake.We almost forgot he was injured.But once the performance was over,we realised he was just holding the pain in.He was silent but it was probably too much.We won but he lowered his head and fell down without saying anything ,leaving us in shock.

What will happen to Andy?