Some said we've got a ticket to the top of the world. We have it right in the palm of our hands and we use it to its full extent. So many of them said that they would kill to be in our place, tasting the luxury of our lives, being adored and loved by so many people.

Being popular, and living the life of an aristocrats.

We've got everything, they say.

And yes, we've got it all right in the palm of our hands.

For a price.

Asha peeks through the small gaps in the backstage, marvelling at the number of attendees with the view that these gaps provides. The hall that their concert tour managers rent for this event is extremely big, so there could be about a hundred thousand people in attendance today. The management also said that the tickets were completely sold out about a week ago, confirming her initial thought about the number of people.

She holds her violin tighter. The stoic expression of her band mates greets her as she throws her gaze around the place.

It's always been like this before they begin a concert, nobody is allowed to talk. Absolutely nobody is allowed to talk. And she doesn't even know why they shouldn't or who invented the silly rules.

A sigh escapes her lips. She hopes for one chance to talk about how nervous she feels right now. Asha bites her lips whilst reflecting back to the start of their career.

They've become a world class performer in the span of two years, after spending quite a long time playing in small gigs and getting to know the people around the industry. They've been through more concerts than she could count but still... a hundred thousand is a big number for her and she's afraid that she's going to mess it all up because of her nervousness.

The muffled roar of the audience greets them once more, sending her into a nervous frenzy. The sound-proof backstage does nothing to hide the mass' excitements.

Asha felt a hand grasping her shoulder and look up to see the lead vocalist of her band, Dillon, smiling down at her. He doesn't say anything because of the no talking rule, but the way he strokes her shoulder soothingly tells her everything that needs to be said. And she instantly feel better because of it.

The stage manager finally gives a signal for them to head towards each of their respective place in the elevating platform. Asha shuts the volume of her electric violin down to do some last minute check, making sure that none of the strings are off. When she's finally sure that everything is good, Asha sets the volume of her electric violin back up.

She inhales as much oxygen as possible, trying to calm herself down.

A loud 'dab' sound signifies that the stage is finally clear. Darkness surrounds them as the audience fall into an anxious silence, waiting for the moment their favorite musicians greets them on stage.

The silence finally starts to consume her and feeds on her nervousness. She can feel their anxiety waiting for her and her friends. Waiting to hear their music.

She can't possibly let them down.

With that thought in mind, Asha braced herself for the inevitable moment. The stage manager is about to start the countdown soon.

8...

7...

6...

Asha bites her bottom lip. Her hands are shaking so bad she hopes that she can play the violin properly.

5...

4...

She's shutting her eyes tightly.

"Get ready to lift the platform! Three!"

The shaking finally stops when the stage manager said two.

"One!"

And she finally heard the opening confetti and the spectacular fireworks as the platform lift them up. Colorful lighting dances around the stage.

Asha smiled, pulling her violin under her chin, waiting for the reffrain of the song. She can clearly see how the three vocalist of their band, Dillon, Keysha and Bruce sing the song along with passion, wide smiles plastered on their face.

The reffrain comes soon after and Asha shuts her eyes, playing her violin to her heart's content, letting herself drown in the stream of her own melody. Asha slowly pulls her eyelids apart to see her band mates looking at her after she does her solo part perfectly. The song continues as she moves her delicate fingers through her violin, creating beautiful notes.

Everything falls perfectly in its place and without even realizing it, the medley of the second and third song finally comes to an end.

Extremely loud cheers echoing throughout the big hall as Dillon speaks to the audience. Some of them jumps and shouts, making the ground shakes with their excitement.

Asha bowed her head down as they prepare themselves for another song.

'Everything will be just fine...'

___

After a press conference session and a tiring after party, the manager finally let them out to go back to their rooms and get some sleep. They still have a few days left in the city and most of them will probably sleep through the day tomorrow.

Asha sighs, getting her phone out to see two text messages, all from the same number.

"Is it Harry?" Dillon said, peeking through her shoulder. Asha rolled her eyes at the guy whom she thought of as a big brother and move to sit on the sofa.

"Yes... it is," She slides her finger through the screen. Entering the passcode before reading on. "And he said that I should text him when I have time, get plenty of rest and not to be nervous before we go up on stage."

She checks the time of the message to see that it was received around the time they sang their third song.

"It's a little late, isn't it?" Dillon said, plopping down beside her in the long sofa while sipping his hot chocolate. Asha smiled sadly.

"Yeah, it is."

"Have you replied?"

"No, I haven't..." She let the sentence hang in the air. Asha move up from the sofa, walking to the small bar that stores their food supplies, leaving her phone away.

"Can I reply it for you?"

Asha shrugs, picking up the cereal from the food cabinet. She checks the fridge for some milk; smiling to herself when she spot one.

"Go ahead then," the girl replied while pouring the milk to a bowl, sopping her crunchy cereal.

Asha plops down to the sofa five minutes later, with a big bowl of fruit loops.

"You know... you're lucky that Tommy isn't here. It's like, what? 2 in the morning? And you're eating a big bowl of fruit loops. You know how strict he is with your weight."

The girl chuckles, scooping a spoon of cereal into her mouth.

"Ee bwont-"

"Stop. Swallow it down, first."

Asha shallowed the rest of her fruit loops down. "I said I don't care," She huffs. "I mean, why would he care so much about me? I'm not the vocalist!"

"But you sing in our album. So does Valerie, John and Mario, despite them being the keyboardist, bassist and vocalist respectively. The ones who doesn't sing are-"

"Lea and Lucas. Yeah... I know that, thanks. But, still, I'm not the lead singer!"

Dillon put the phone in her lap. "But, you're still the most popular one. I mean out of the other member of our team, you're the one who had almost 7 million followers on instagram and about 600 thousands on twitter, the last time I checked."

"That doesn't mean anything. You're only a few thousands behind me."

"You're still the more popular one, though."

Asha sighs, rolling her eyes at the ridiculous debate. Her phone beeps lowly, signifying another text message. Asha's smile faltered the moment she reads the content of the text.

"Dillon... what did you do?" Asha said, frowning deeply.

"I did nothing."

"But, Harry-"

"He needs to know the cold, hard truth, Ash," said Dillon as he slowly fix his position so that he could face her directly.

"But you don't have to say something like this to him, Dillon. How am I going to explain about the text you've sent to him?"

"Geez, Ash. Will you just calm down? He won't be mad. And besides, you can't possibly date a guy as hideous as he is, Asha! You know how the media and fans will react if the media finally sniff something about your relationship!" Dillon said, raising his voice a little.

Asha bites her lips nervously, holding back her tears.

"But... I-"

"It doesn't matter, Asha."

"Yes it does matter! I don't want to be famous if I can't be with him," Asha frowned, "I mean look at you, how can it be possible for you to hide the fact that you're-"

"What the heck is going on here?"

Both of them look up to see Valerie standing in the hallway of the suite, yawning while scrubbing her tired eyes.

"Did we wake you up, Val?" Dillon said, a deep concern gracing his whole features.

"Yes. You did, actually. Can you guys keep it down for a bit? I'm trying to catch some sleep."

Both Dillon and Asha nods, saying a flat 'okay' before Valerie move back to her room.

"You know what, Dills? I'm so tired with all the demands we have to follow," Asha scoops the last spoon of her fruit loops, getting up to put the bowl in the dishwasher. "They don't even let me eat for god's sake. Are they trying to kill me or something?"

"Well, you know what they say... entering the show business is like trading for two legs."

"Is that a little mermaid reference?"

"Yes, it is."

Asha chuckled. Smiling slightly while listening to the rant of person she cares about the most.

Well, Dillon holds the second position as the person she cares about the most. Bartholomeus Sullivan holds the top position as the man she thought of as her own father.

"So, we're just like Ariel then?"

"Yes. Letting go of her old world to enter a new one."

"And she can never go back to the sea again?"

"Exactly."

Asha sighs, the frown in her face got deeper by the second.

"So that means..."

"That means, we should let go of our old worlds and be content with the new one we're living in right now."

"But it's killing me, Dillon!"

"Don't you think that it kills me too?" Dillon snap. He immediately try to control his anger after that.

"I thought being famous would feel good."

Dillon sighs, "It does feel good for a while, Ash. That is, until we finally reach this point."

"The point where all we're facing are troubles?"

"Yes, troubles. Troubles everywhere," Dillon sighs. He rolled his eyes at the girl in front of him. "Well, enough of this heavy debate. I'm extremely tired and I need to sleep. You better go and get some sleep too, little whinny."

She shrughs.

"I guess, I should."

Dillon moves to ruffle the messy mop of brown hair that belongs to her. "Goodnight, shortcake."

Asha yawned, smiling a little while moving up from the sofa. Walking back to the room she shared with Valerie. "Goodnight, Dillon. Sweet dreams."

Entering the show business comes with severe consequences. All the things that comes from our popularity is costing us so much, that it feels simply impossible to keep up with.

All this pain for a fickle thing we called popularity and wealth.

So, in other words entering the show business is like making a pact with a devil.

A very attractive devil.

*****

Yay! I finally decided to go with a TP point of view for a change. I hope I'm doing a good job writing a story from third person's perspective.

So what do you think about this chapter? Do you like it? Hate it? Love it?

Now would you look at the time? It's 4:34 AM. Geez...

Don't forget to vote if you like it!

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Thank you for reading!
XOXO,
S.