Life In The Spotlight

Chapter 18 (Past)

Sora tried to talk to the director about the situation. "Look, Shu is having a rough time. Take it easy on him."

The actors were supposed to film the season finale for Season 2. But Shu wasn't in the mood. He hadn't talked to Seina for days. He wanted to talk to Rose, but he was afraid that Seina would be mad if he did.

"You okay?" asked Valt.

"Yeah," said Shu tonelessly.

"You don't look okay," said Valt.

"Then stop asking," snapped Shu.

Valt looked surprised. Shu had never snapped at him outside the camera. "Shu, are you sure? You look tired."

Shu sighed. He was tired, but that wasn't really what was bothering him. There was something inside him that told him that something was really wrong.

"I... I don't feel like talking."

"Are you sick?"

"No."

"Did you and Seina fight?"

Shu looked at Valt in astonishment. "How did you know?"

"You're actually pretty easy to read. I know that you're nervous when you pick at your fingers. I know that you are very quiet when you get upset. I know that you don't like carrots when you are sick."

Shu was surprised. At school, no one could read him at all. In fact, he was tired of telling his fangirls that he wasn't interested in them. Was he that obvious or was Valt surprisingly observant?

Shu ended up telling Valt all about what had happened. Valt was angry at Seina's behaviour.

"How dare she make you so unhappy? I'll go and have a word with her."

"No, you can't," said Shu. "Please, don't."

Valt calmed down. He was deeply troubled that Shu kept excusing Seina's toxicity because he loved her. But he couldn't change Shu's mind.

"But... What about Rose?"

"I don't know. She said that she will stop talking to me so that Seina won't dump me. It's just not fair. Rose did nothing wrong."

"Shu, I..."

"Are you two done? The show isn't going to film itself!" yelled the director.

~📆~📆~📆~📆~📆~📆~📆~📆~📆~📆~

At the same time, Fubuki was waiting to audition for the next season with a bunch of other kids. Akeno wasn't interested in acting, so he didn't audition.

Fubuki tried to figure out what he should say. "Let's see... Should I make an inspirational speech? Or should I do a Beybattle?"

"You're not helping yourself by worrying." Fubuki noticed a white-haired boy next to him. They looked the same age.

"Sorry. I'm just worried about acting. I'm Fubuki Sumiye."

"Suoh Genji. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Fubuki noticed a little girl with short blue hair pull the hand of a boy with maroon hair. He figured out that they were siblings.

Fubuki was secretly relieved that Akeno wasn't there. He was pretty sure that Akeno would tease him like he always did.

Luckily for Fubuki, the audition went smoothly. Well, as smoothly as an audition with children can go.

Some of the kids stared at the camera while others put on silly high voices. One girl kept being dramatic and kept yelling, "Oh, woe is me!"

Talk about embarrassing! Fubuki thought as he watched a young boy speaking his lines in a monotone voice, mainly because he was reading off his palm.

One girl didn't speak at all. She came wearing a red dress and black tap shoes. Her dark brown hair was tied into a bun.

Instead of speaking lines, the girl kept tap dancing. Honestly, Fubuki thought that her dancing was super good. But this wasn't Glee.

The girl obviously didn't make it in, because the producer didn't ask for her name. But she still retained a smile on her face as she tap danced out of the audition room.

"H... Hi," said Fubuki.

The girl waved at him.

"What's your name?" asked Fubuki.

The girl said nothing, but pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket.

"Gina Loxley."

The girl nodded.

Fubuki was confused. Normally people who refused to talk were really shy. But this girl seemed confident. What was the reason for her silence?

"Gina, why don't you talk?" asked Fubuki.

Gina smiled and tap danced a little.

"I... Don't speak dance."

Gina took the piece of paper and wrote on it. She handed the paper back to Fubuki.

Fubuki couldn't believe his eyes. On the paper were three words. Three words that greatly disturbed him.

I am mute.