The days passed in a blur. Between classes, massed training sessions, and learning the theme song lyrics and dance choreography with the other trainees, Stacey felt like she barely had time to breathe. Everything happened like a passing whirlwind that threatened to sweep her away until one dinner, Ken stopped Stacey from leaving the main hall early like usual.
"The first ranking competition is the day after tomorrow," Ken told her. "Our group hasn't had a chance to meet and even choose a song yet. What should we do?"
Stacey sat back down and put her head in her hands. Whoops. That had been totally forgotten. Another thing for her to stress about. Her stomach twisted with guilt.
"I'm sorry. I completely forgot about it," she admitted. "I'm glad you reminded me. At least we still have some time. How about we meet in a practice room after I finish my classes for the day? I'll come and find you. You guys can decide on what kind of song we'll do. Should we do something serious this time?"
"Yes. I think that's a good idea. It will also be good if we choose something simple as well to make things easier for you."
"No," Stacey waved her hands in a cross sign. "Don't do that. Do what is best for the group and what we need to do to win. I'll do my best to not let you down."
"Alright. We'll discuss everything tonight. We know how hard you've been working and didn't want to disturb you but we're really running out of time now. You'd better go. Don't be late for your class," Ken shooed her away and turned to Endo and Flail. "You guys heard that. What do you reckon we should do?"
After her last class for the day had finished, Stacey went up to her room to shower. The mentors weren't in there yet and so she was free to dart back down to the practice rooms. She found the boys waiting for her with some snacks they had snuck into the room.
"Here, eat this quickly before anyone comes in and sees you," Endo thrust the little cakes wrapped in a serviette into her hands.
"No, that's ok," Stacey told him, pushing them back. "I was told to lose some weight anyway and so can't eat any snacks."
"We brought them for you," Endo sniffed.
"I'll eat one then," Stacey relented, "but I might need help finishing the rest."
Picking a pink coloured cube, Stacey took a bite and her eyes lit up. Wow. These were really good. She had no idea what they were made of or what was in them but they were moist, chewy and full of flavour. They weren't entirely sweet either. There was just the right amount of salt and flavouring to balance it out. She finished the little pink cake in one more bite. It was so good that she almost drooled.
"They're good, right?" Endo said. "Here, have another."
Stacey took a green cube this time and closed her mouth, savouring it. Who would have thought that the cakes here could be so good? She loved the mouthfeel and the taste although she didn't know what flavour it was meant to be.
"We've decided on an old ballad in Tadpole," Ken chuckled at her expression. "Here, listen to this."
Stacey listened to the ballad with her eyes closed while she continued to eat. She only caught a few words that she knew, like 'the', 'you' and 'me'. Ken played it again and then explained what the boys had agreed to do so far.
"You're going to be the lady in the song. Endo is your lover. Flail is the rival and he'll rap his way through his parts. I'm the narrator," Ken said. "We couldn't think of another role for me to play."
"What if you were a man who loved the lady from a distance?" Stacey asked. "Always there and helping her but never noticed or seen by any of the others?"
Endo oohed. Flail sat up straight and Ken clapped his hands.
"Aaand this is why we needed your input," he said. "Ok. Let's go with that. Look, we printed out your lyrics. Do you think you can memorise them first? Once you know your part of the song, we'll teach you the dance."
"Ah, just teach me the dance at the same time," Stacey said. "I'll memorise it altogether."
That was what her tutors had been making her do so far. She may as well continue with that method of learning.
The group lost track of time with their practice until a staff member rapped on the door to remind them of the time. They had pretty much finished getting the whole song down. Tomorrow, they would just need to fine tune everything.
"You'll just need to practice those pivots and turns," Ken yawned to Stacey. "It's a good thing you learn fast. See you tomorrow."
Stacey returned to her room where the three lady mentors were in a deep discussion. They didn't notice her enter the room. From what she could tell, they were worried about a rumour of something dangerous or something like that. Exactly what though, Stacey wasn't sure. They were mostly speaking in Tadpole. Whatever it was, they seemed a little worried but sure that whatever it was, it was under control.
Stacey washed up and went to bed but not being able to perfect the dance moves bothered her. She was tired but she couldn't sleep anymore. Glancing at the three ladies who were still busy, Stacey got up and snuck out. In order not to disturb anyone, she went outside to the gymnasium behind the main building.
The air was cold and Stacey regretted not changing out of her pyjamas into warmer clothes. She warmed up in the gym and practised until she was satisfied that she had made some progress. Then, since she was there, she practised everything else as well, taking her time to get what she could as perfect as possible. Her entire body ached but it made Stacey feel like she had accomplished something.
Coming out of the gym, she closed her eyes to breathe in the cold night air. It smelled of dried grass, something floral and there was a hint of a sweaty animal smell. Horses maybe, although Stacey hadn't seen any horses here yet. She was pretty sure the sweaty smell wasn't coming from her. Her sweat didn't normally smell like this. But if it was her, maybe she needed to drink more water.
Despite all her worries and concerns, Stacey felt like she was making steady progress and gradually catching up with the other teenagers. She could do this.
Suddenly, all the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Stacey stopped where she was, trying to figure out where the danger was and what direction she should run in. Stacey felt warm, moist breath breathing down on her neck. Petrified, she couldn't summon up the courage or strength to turn around. Something or someone was there behind her. The presence felt heavy and big. Bigger than a man. A strange musky smell mixed with the scent of sweaty animal wafted with the breeze. Stacey didn't like that smell. Whatever it was.
It could be a monster. An alien. Maybe a nocturnal one that ate people. Nobody had told her anything about people eating monsters she needed to be careful of at night though.
She fought with her body and fear to take control of her muscles again and to try and take a step away from whatever or whoever was behind her. Her limbs felt leaden. Her feet were glued to the ground.
Large hands clasped her shoulders. They gently brushed her body and Stacey turned into an even stiffer statue. Maybe she was dreaming and this was just a nightmare. She hoped. She wished. Only it was real. Very real.
Stacey didn't dare to flinch. The hands crept up her neck to her face and then back down again, sliding around her body. They gently pinched her muscles to feel them and measure how wide her limbs were.
Stacey's legs were shaking so hard, they were ready to give way. Sweat dripped down her face and neck.
From the shadow and feel of those hands, the presence behind her was huge. So it was a man? Maybe? A horsey smelling giant of a man. If she ran, would she be able to run fast enough to escape the reach of whatever was behind her?
Move. She needed to move and not stand here to be molested like a statue. She needed to run. Escape. Hide.