Playing For Keeps

15. The Moon and Star Pageant

Ming stood in line next to his partner, Joy. While he was standing in nothing but tiny red shorts, she was looking gorgeous in a navy blue gown. She had her short hair slicked back off of her face and wore minimal, dainty jewelry. She looked beautiful, and since she was looking so glamorous, Ming felt extremely underdressed. For her solo performance she was going to sing. Ming was going to showcase his Muy Thai kickboxing.

"Alright everyone! Make sure you're lining up in the correct order. Remember, you are each going on stage in alphabetical order of your faculty. Against the wall please!"

That was P'Dear, the person that was in charge of all of this. Ming took a deep breath and scooted closer to the wall next to Joy. He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous but he was also a bit excited. Excited to be showing off his fighting skills when he hadn't shown anyone in so long. Excited to hear what the final results were going to be. And excited for this whole thing to finally be over. This whole experience had been fun, but it was time consuming and low-key stressful.

Before any of them were to take the stage, the previous Moon and Star of the university were going to be introducing all the contestants. Phana and the previous Star made their way down the hall, passing all the contestants that were lined up against the wall. Many of the contestants turned to see them walk down, including Ming. Phana walked tall and proud and Ming couldn't help but search for Wayo to see if he was looking too.

Ming spotted him near the back of the line and true enough, he was staring slack-jawed at P'Pha. Ming shook his head, smiling to himself and turned back around. With the crazy bet Phana and Yo had made with each other, tonight was going to be pretty impactful for them. Winning or losing definitely held more weight for Wayo than it did for Ming, but Ming couldn't think about that right now.

I'm sorry Yo. I want to win just as much as you, my friend. Ming thought apologetically to himself.

It didn't take long for Phana and his Star partner to get through their welcoming talk and introduce the contestants' individual performances. Ming was so lost in his thoughts and going through his routine in his head that he was startled when P'Dear whisper-shouted at him to get ready to take the stage.

Here we go. Ming bounced on his toes a bit while flexing and unflexing his fingers. It's showtime.

As soon as he walked on stage, the multitude of girls in the audience started to squeal and cry out. Ming maintained his composure, bowed to the audience and began his routine. He was going to be on the stage by himself for only a short while before someone else came out to aid in his performance. He was going to fight and win against another guy. It was all staged of course, but it was enough to show off the skills he truly did have.