Breaking Barriers | VeeMark

Barrier 14

Mark's POV

"Are you ready?" Vee asked me as I was preparing for my clothes backstage. I've been here for about an hour and a half already but I'm still nervous as ever. My heart is beating rapidly inside my chest and I think it doesn't have any idea to stop.

I got a bit of a shock since he talked to me. I have been slightly ignoring him these days because of his sudden confession to me. He was also distancing himself from me these days because I'm sure that he himself noticed that I was ignoring him and he's just been letting me do what I want.

I'm also feeling guilty with what I'm doing to him. Although he distanced himself for two weeks, he's also been showing subtle efforts to prove his feelings for me. He would give me food and chocolates everyday, although I reject some of them, he still continues to do so. I think that its really just me who doesn't want to believe that he likes me and I don't know why.

I moved my head left to right to tell him no. "No, I think I won't ever be ready for this," I answered him truthfully. I continued to arrange the different sets of clothes that I'll wear later on. I prepared five sets of clothes but I'll just use three of them. I just brought some extra if ever I needed it.

Today is the D-day. The pageant is about to commence in a few hours and all I can say is that I'm not sure if I can do this. After two weeks of non stop practice; from the ramp, to the dance, to my performance, and even with the question and answer part where my mom helped me, everything of that ends tonight.

No matter how much I disliked joining this pageant, I would have to say that I really did try my best for this. There was a part of me that did my best to practice because I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of everyone and there was also a part of me that did it because I was actually having fun with this pageant.

I am going through a mix of emotions right now. I'm gonna be honest and say that I'm excited right now but every ounce of excitement I'm feeling is getting blocked by the extreme nervousness I'm also feeling. I'm just hoping that I won't mess up at the stage later on.

He smiled and made me look at him by raising my chin. "You're ready for this Mark. Everyone of us practiced so hard for this night and I saw how much you gave your best in every practice session. You may have made it come out as if you were lazy, but I know that you're really giving out your hundred percent," he said as he tried to comfort me.

"I'm nervous Vee, so nervous. I'm afraid to fail. I'm afraid of getting myself humiliated later. I'm scared of all the negative possibilities that might happen once I took a step on the stage," I confessed. I rarely tell others what I feel but there was something with Vee that makes me comfortable enough to tell it to him.

He cupped my face in both of his hands. "Being nervous is part of it Mark. But you have to thrive through the pressure. Be confident. You're Ice. You have nothing to fear," he said as he looked at me straight in the eye.

"Why do you look like you're not nervous at all?" I asked him curiously. All the participants have been here for more than an hour already and I can feel the nervousness from everyone except Vee. He was just chill and normally looking at his phone or talking to other people.

He smiled. "Who says I'm not nervous?" he answered knowingly. "I'm nervous too you know. Its just that I choose to not dwell on it because it will just affect how I'll perform later and I don't want that to happen," he answered.

"You really want to win this huh?" I asked him again. I actually saw how he practiced so hard for this pageant and if he wins this thing, I can say that he really deserved it. Besides, I have a feeling that he has the greatest chance of winning this out of all the male participants.