Clink!
The sound of a bottle being opened sounded, the contents inside being quickly downed by Briana, followed by a hearty exhale and heavy breathing.
[Pass it up, girl.]
Sara demanded, her breath coming out in heavy breaths too. Greedily grabbing the offered drink, she downed the drink as well, nearly demolishing the contents of the drink entirely between their two gulps.
[God, y-you’re usually so averse to going out on a run most of the time… So what's with sudden goddamn marathon now?!]
Briana complained unabashedly as she finally found a seat at a nearby bench. Slumping down, her body slouched backwards against the back of the bench in blissful rest.
The two girls were currently in a large park area; around them, other joggers and picnicking families could be seen busying about under the hot sun.
[I’m j-just… Trying to get fit for my training…]
Sara struggled to speak amidst gasps for breath, her fingers absentmindedly stroking her flushed cheeks.
[Well, at this rate… You’ll be dead before you even start…]
Briana through in one last complaint, though she couldn't hold back her laughter in the end:
[Hahaha, I guess it's a good thing in the end, ah… I think we should call it a day after this though, or I'm really going to faint.]
[Yeah.]
Sara quickly agreed, dropping down beside her friend on the bench, hands attached to her knees as she attempted to regulate her breath to a steady rhythm again.
Several bouts of panting later, the two had finally calmed down enough to talk in proper, Briana being the one to break the momentary silence:
[I still can’t believe you’re going to be an idol too, it feels like a dream.]
[Hah, it’s not set in stone yet…]
Sara smiled wryly, a troubled sigh escaping her lips.
[Right, the one-month thing.]
Briana brushed her concerns off with a casual wave of the back of her hand:
[That’s nothing. I know you, Sara, You can do it; you’ve always been a quick learner.”
[Hopefully...]
Sara sighed, not truly convinced.
[For the both of us, everything starts tomorrow.]
Briana smiled, though there seemed a buried solemnness behind this bright expression at the same time.
[Tomorrow I will move into the group apartment, and you will start your training… The both of us are going to be busy, that’s for sure…]
[Yeah…]
Sara mumbled solemnly, hand brushing her fringe out of her eyes.
[Sara, promise me… That you’ll keep in touch with me…]
Sara was surprised by the sudden weak tone in her friend’s voice as she said this, and turned to find Briana holding back tears, her fingers digging into her thighs in her struggle.
[B-Briana!]
Sara gasped, grabbing her friend’s hands to stop her, manoeuvring to hold her hands in her own as she declared vehemently in answer:
[I promise, of course, I promise! No matter how busy, I’ll text and call you, and whenever I can, I’ll definitely meet you!]
[T-thank you... Sara... I-I'm going to be so lonely without you by my side all the time!]
Briana pulled Sara in for a hug, her arms holding her friend tightly. Sara could hear her friend sniffing in her ear and felt tears swelling in her own dark blue eyes as well as she hugged her friend back with all of her strength.
Briana and Sara stayed attached to each other like this for a good while before finally pulling back from each other, both immediately chuckling in laughter at the sight of the other’s ruffled appearance and swollen eyes.
[You look like a cat sat on you!]
Briana laughed, referring to Sara’s mild allergy to said felines.
[Haha, well you look like you watched Titanic for the 40th time.]
Sara quipped back, referring to Briana’s obsession with the movie. Briana loved watching movies that got you crying your guts out by the end; at least ten times, at that. Sara could never understand it and had been forced many times to join her friend in watching these movies in the past, allowing her to witness this first-hand many times over.
[*sigh* I suppose it’s about time we head back.]
Briana pouted as she looked at the time on her phone, her front teeth nibbling at her lower lip regretfully.
[Why the rush?]
Sara asked, wondering why they couldn’t hang out a little longer. It wasn't that late after all.
[This is my last day staying with my parents…]
Briana smiled, though solemnly.
[…They said there going to have a small party, probably karaoke and some snacks, then they’re going to help me finish up my packing.]
[I see.] Sara nodded in understanding.
[You can come if you want.]
Briana offered.
[Nah, that should just be amongst your family. I’ve stolen enough of your time as it is.]
Sara decided before standing up from the bench and stretching her limbs which had begun to ache from her jog. With a half-hearted smile, she then faced her childhood friend and asked with a sad smile:
[Ready?]
[Hn.]
Briana responded as she joined her friend in stretching her aching limbs as well.
Soon enough the two were off in a jog towards their homes, only splitting up at the furthest available spot amidst held back tears and overly long intimate hugs.
When Sara reached home, it was only just a little bit in the afternoon, but because it was Sunday, the bakery had already closed for the day. So, after greeting her parents, Sara opted to head to her room and passed the time browsing social media for a bit.
There wasn’t much of interest there, as usual.
Finally, after resting her mind for a good amount of time browsing the web, Sara moved onto something she had been finding herself doing a lot as of late. Gathering any information that she can in preparation of her idol training.
Mainly, she had watched and read up about how to sing and dance.
As she would watch and read this stuff, she would also try to put what she was learning into practice, like finding the range of her voice for example; which she calculated to be in the range of contralto or maybe a lower range mezzo-soprano; she wasn’t knowledgeable enough to confidently guarantee if either way was correct. Maybe she'd be able to learn more in the future.
Sara also took some time to watch and—try to at least—learn some of the basic dance moves; attempting to perform these dance moves in her small room was a challenge in and of itself, however.
Most of this didn’t lead to much improvement given the small timescale allotted to her, but that didn’t bring Sara down. Sara felt it was good enough just to get the basics ready for now and for when her training starts truly the next day.
Completely exhausted several hours later from the mostly non-stop exercise, Sara called it a day after taking a nice relaxing shower. As she shuffled into bed, Sara couldn’t help the nerves running up and down her body as the thought of what was to happen tomorrow rushed into the forefront of her thoughts.
Thankfully, however, Sara’s was able to morph her concerns into a determination to prove herself, her memory of the director's advice during the audition helping her once again. Finally, several minutes later, Sara was already fading into a long blissful sleep, thoughts of the future and all it holds fading with her consciousness...
