[Honey, your dinner’s ready!]

Sara heard her mum call from the kitchen.

[Ah, coming!]

Sara hastily called back before leaving the storefront and heading towards the kitchen, leaving her dad to continue working at the cashier.

Entering the kitchen, Sara welcomed the smell of various cooked goods as well as the sight of her dinner lying on the counter, steam billowing from it. Grabbing the plate, Sara thanked her mum as she took a seat at the dinner table that was squeezed in at the opposite side of the kitchen.

[When you’re done with that, dear, you can call it a day. Me and your dad will be able to close the store ourselves.]

Sara’s mum informed, her hands digging into the scrubber in her hands as she dutifully cleans the cooker.

[Oh, okay. Are you sure?]

Sara asked amist stuffing her mouth with a big bite of her food.

[Yeah, there’s not much to do now. I’ve already stored away all the food and am nearly finished cleaning. And your dads got the storefront covered.]

Sara’s mum smiled.

[I want you to rest as much as you can, do you know how heart-wrenching it is to see you looking so tired at the end of the day all week?]

[Okay.]

Sara acquiesces.

About an hour later, Sara lets out a frustrated groan and drops her phone to the side to rest on the bed beside herself.

‘I can’t concentrate on anything!...’

Sara's forehead falls into her hand as she lets out a long-troubled sigh.

‘I feel like I’m running on adrenaline… I feel like I'm gonna have anxiety if I don't start moving my body.’

Eventually, Sara couldn’t hold herself back any longer and sprung out of her bed. Wrapping a cosy coat around herself, Sara left her room and descended downstairs, making sure not to be seen by her mum and dad who should be in the living room (which was on the second floor due to the unique arrangement of the house).

Leaving her house successfully without any fuss, Sara chose to jog her way to her usual training spot at the usual nature park.

Locating her usual spot of privacy, Sara didn’t waste time before performing a series of quick warmups. While she concentrated on stretching her limbs, thoroughly preparing them for the straining work ahead, Sara also opted to perform some vocal exercises at the same time.

These vocal exercises consisted mainly of humming a tune, increasing and decreasing the pitch of her voice consistently as well as altering the rhythm. Sara had already seen some improvement in her voice, though just a small bit, in the week she had been practising this and other vocal exercises. It was really reassuring and inspirited her to partake in these vocal exercises often.

A few minutes later, Sara was ready to begin to practise in proper, choosing to continue her dance training, which was noticeably much inferior to her singing—though that wasn’t exactly at an ideal place either. In conclusion, there was still much to improve on, and only so little time to do so.

So, as the sky turned darker and darker, stars forming in its dark depths above amidst grey clouds, several hours passed as Sara trained on the grassy field below. From her intense training and the occasional fall, dirt and grass steins rand up and down her clothes and bare skin at this point, intermixed with her sweat; yet this never stopped Sara from getting back on her fight and soldiering on, picking up right where she left off and struggling through every pitfall she would inevitably crash into.

With a final twist, one hand grasping at a 90degree angle and another splayed across her chest, legs twisted in a figure eight, Sara took in heavy breaths as she finished another piece of choreo that Jennifer had taught her; one that was particularly difficult, at least at her stage. This dance sequence had been giving her problems all week, and Sara was filled with relief and a strong feeling of achievement as she finally pulled the move off in one go.

Running to a bolder a few metres from her, Sara grabbed her phone that she had left there filming her dancing hastily and ended the recording before immediately playing it back, eyes peeled on the screen.

A smile tugged at her lips. She had by no means completed the dance perfectly; a wrong foot placement there, a misstep there etc. Yet Sara still felt she was incredibly close now, much closer than she had ever been the whole week previous.

Sadly, however, fatigue had begun to settle in now and Sara knew that she had stretched the limit of her available time here, so she wrapped on her coat, tucked away her phone, and began the relatively small trudge home…

The next morning, Sara walked out of her bathroom, towel wrapped around her chest, hanging down to just above her knees while another was being ruthlessly rubbed against her shoulder-length black hair.

Just as she was about to grab some clothes from a cabinet, Sara heard the click of her door opening and turned to see her mum popping her head in the room with a smile.

[What’s up mum?]

Sara asked, not unused to her mother’s impromptu visits to her room—without even a knock or call of warning.

[Just wanted to remind you that me and your dad will be gone most of the day.]

Sara’s mum’s smile was almost beaming, happiness dancing in her eyes.

[Ah, your date, right?]

Sara remembered, having totally forgotten in the haze of her busy first week of training.

[are you leaving already?]

[Yeah, and we’ll be gone most of the day. Are you going to be able to handle yourself?]

Sara’s mum asked, lips in a worried pout as she feared for her daughter’s safety.

[I’ll be fine, it’s just a day. I can cook my dinner and everything.]

Sara chuckled at her mum’s pouting look. She was already 17 years old; most parents wouldn’t even blink their eyes before heading off on month-long holidays and leaving their children home alone, yet her mother worried about leaving her alone for only half a day.

Shaking her head, Sara held back her building emotions. She would hold tightly to the feeling, however, using it to fuel herself in the coming days.

[Alright… But call me if anything happens!]

Her mum relented.

[Of course.]

Sara agreed easily and bid her mum farewell before finally getting herself dressed in some comfy, casual clothing.

‘Now that I’m home alone, I guess I can do some vocal training today, huh.’

Sara proposed in thought.

‘Actually, why don't I have a listen to the song I'm to perform at the end of the month… Pink Spring…’

Blink!

Sara tilted her head in question as she picked up her phone which had suddenly sounded, a new message having just been sent. Mouth forming into a smile as she read the name of the sender, Sara then turned surprised at the content of the text.

You won’t believe it! I’m (and a few other trainees, but whatevs) going to be in a commercial!! Aaah! It’s just a small part, but I’ll be on TV, so bow to my greatness as my great climb to the top begins! – Briana

Sara chuckled and shook her head at her friend’s eccentric message and quickly replied, congratulating her friend on her first job, even putting in a bowing emote for fun.

This work would surely be a productive experience for Briana in her path towards becoming an idol actress.

Their texts to each other didn’t last long however as Briana had to do some acting practices of her own, so the two promised to text each other later as Sara sighed at the situation.

It was much harder for the two to find the time to talk to each other, just as the two had predicted.

‘But we won’t let that get to us.’ Sara smirked.

Putting those depressing thoughts to the back of her mind, Sara booted up her laptop, ready to begin her own training, suppressing the little bit of guilt at the back of her mind as she continued to practice, even while she had promised to properly rest over the weekend to Jennifer…