Raine

Running my hands across the star-shaped patterns shaved into the sides of Leela’s head, I can’t stop smiling.

“I love it.”

The curls on top are dyed teal green and it goes amazingly well with her brown skin and green contacts. Leela has this charm about her that makes women who like women swoon. With this haircut, it’s only going to increase her fans and probably even have some questioning their sexuality.

“What about yours? That dusty blue looks amazing on you. Do you like it?”

I nod and run my hand through my hair. “I like it.” Not much has been changed for me other than the color of my hair. Wearing different colored contacts is already my hobby and I never leave the dorm without a bit of kohl lining my eyes. The makeup artist did add a bit of pink tint to my skin-colored lips.

DG’s light roots have been dyed red to match the rest of his hair and even though that’s not a huge change either, it does look shinier after the water treatment.

“The fans are going to go crazy over you,” I say, sliding my hands along the strands. They love it when his hair whips around as he smashes the drums.

Xen is silently sitting on a chair in the break room.

“What’s wrong?” DG asks, walking away from me and over to him. “You don’t like your makeover?”

The corners of Xen’s mouth tilt down when he isn’t smiling. It makes me wonder what he’s thinking.

“I’m just… a little disappointed I couldn’t get my hair dyed too. You all have cool hair colors and mine's still black." He hangs his head. "So disappointed in my follicles.”

“Better black than bald,” Leela remarks.

“And,” DG begins, “you got a new style.”

“It looks better,” I say. Yes, I’m trying to be nice. But it’s not like I’m lying. They cut it in layers and gave him a tousled look. Short in the back, eyebrow length in the front, with a side part. And those eyebrows have been plucked too. The smokey brown kohl around his eyes somehow enhances his entire face. Or maybe it’s the lighter brown contacts.

Xen’s surprised eyes glance at me for a microsecond before he shifts them away, blinking awkwardly.

I hold back a sneer. I give you a compliment and that’s the way you want to act? Fine. Don’t expect another.

Vont steps into the room. “The stylist has all new wardrobes for you.” Before we can complain (particularly me and DG who tend to wear the same style of outfit every day), Vont holds out his hand and adds, “Your off-stage style hasn’t changed, she’s just replaced your items with better quality forms.”

Great, I get to keep my jackets.

“Now is the part you’ve been looking forward to most.” He grins. “The studio.”

Our excitement is visible when we step into the studio. It's been so long since the three of us have been in here together. Vont watches us fondly as DG presses the release handle to expand his L-drums and Leela puts on her e-bass. They both press the buttons on the instruments to turn them on. Blue strings made from e-core appear on Leela's bass. DG's cymbals and snares glow. They play a few chords and bang a few beats. I knew I wasn't the only one longing to get back into this.

Xen's voice comes from the door behind me. "Jo'lanae wants us to start with 'Starlight.'" He walks over handing each of us papers. "This is the sheet music."

I stare at the paper labeled "Starlight: Vocals" full of notes and markings, then glance at Vont. Sheet music? I don't know how to read this qiq and I guess nobody gave Xen a heads up. DG and Leela immediately start playing and I swallow my pride.

"Xen."

He turns around to face me and bites his lip.

"I don't know how to read sheet music."

That downward tilting mouth… Is he pissed? Could it be that he's judging me?

"Nobody told me that with this new composer I'd have to read sheet music. And I don't have time to learn it." I glare at Vont.

Xen walks away, towards the piano. "I'll play it for you then." He turns on the metronome, then one key at a time like my voice would be, plays out the melody I'm to sing. His eyes shift to me. "Um… can you come closer?"

I step up to the piano, understanding what he's doing but still feeling bad about being the only one who can't read sheet music.

"This is the first line." He plays it then looks at me.

I take in air to sing and repeat the melody but with my lyrics.

Xen gives a soft smile. "We can do it like this."

I’m glad Xen is so adapting. Still, I feel like qiq for not being able to read the sheet music he’s worked on. We go through the entire song until I memorize the melody. There are a few notes changed from the original. It doesn’t even feel like my song anymore. Annoyance bubbles up and then I remember DG’s words. Control freak.

Okay, fine. I have to make some compromises if I really want this. And at the least, the lyrics are still mine. Plus, honestly, it sounds better.

Vont knocks on the door and walks in. “You can return to practice later. We’ve got a meeting with some people and Jo’lanae.”

“What kind of people?” Leela asks.

He smirks. “You’ll see.”

It’s always a bad sign when he can’t tell us stuff beforehand. In the meeting room, Jo’lanae sits at the head of the table. On one side are three Laeetuni people I’ve never seen before. They stand up to greet us.

“Have a seat,” Jo’lanae says to us, gesturing to the opposite side of the table. DG sits closest to our CEO and Leela beside him, then me, Xen, and Vont. “These are staff from LBS.”

I immediately sense what’s coming. There’s only one reason we’d be meeting with staff from a TV station.

Jo’lanae smiles with a cunning glint in her eyes. “We’ll be working with them to film a show about your predebut. ‘Making of Nebula.’” She spreads out her hands as she says the title. “Obviously, it’s to build interest around your debut and increase your fanbase. The fans will get to know Nebula up close and personal, each of your personalities and talents. It’ll be released when we drop your first single, some time before the full album.” She waits for one of us to say something.

I look at DG. He looks at me. We look at Leela.

“Glad there are no complaints. I’ll let PD Toriq take it away.”

The person closest to her smiles. They look to be middle-aged and are wearing casual clothes. 

“Nice to meet you, Nebula. I’m the Production Director who’s taking charge of your show. He/him.” He gestures to the people by his side. “I’ve brought with me Assistant PD Gleam, she/her, and our head of filming, Weyn, they/them.” I can’t help but glance at his receding hairline as he talks. “First things first, as Jo’lanae hinted, we want to catch you in your most natural state. At the same time, we want to keep things interesting. We don’t want you to change your personalities, but dropping jokes, being witty, interacting with each other, and looking cheerful is a necessity for the success of the show."

Leela glances at me. Look, I can’t help if I have a resting bored face. I mean, Xen here always looks some combination of unhappy and zoned out. Why is she only looking at me? I run my hand through my hair and avoid her gaze. Now facing Xen, I notice when he slowly and mechanicallyraises the corners of his mouth to look to form a relaxed smile.

I can’t help but snort which puts a genuine smile on my face.

“Great!” PD Toriq says. “The other thing I want you to know is that we respect your privacy. You’ll always get a heads up when the cameras are coming and we won’t enter places like the bathroom, obviously. Most of the filming will be you doing activities surrounding your debut, but we also want to capture some moments of your home life.”

Gleam smiles, flipping her straight brown hair over her shoulder. “Not only should you talk to each other, but don’t be afraid to talk to the camera. You’re basically speaking with the viewers, the fans. Sometimes, the crew will pull you aside for quick interviews. The editing team will add different things to make the show more interesting or comedic, like sound effects, filters, subtitles, emaces…”

Xen raises his hand. “What are emaces?”

“Emotion faces,” Gleam explains.

Xen shifts his eyes left and right, lips back downward. “What are emotion faces?”

Gleam giggles. “You’ll see.”

DG leans forward on the table to look at Xen. “I’ll show them to you later.”

The confused Earthian nods once and Gleam continues. “Don’t worry about looking perfect for the camera, but do mind your image. We want to keep cursing to a minimum. And lastly, like Toriq mentioned briefly, we want you to engage the audience. Boost it up for the camera once in a while. Fans love fanservice. At the same time, don’t overdo it.”

I run my hand through my hair. “We’ve never done this type of thing before. How will we know if we’re doing things right in front of the camera?”

Weyn raises their hand, “I’ll be in charge of that. You might see me motion to you behind the camera. I might say something which we’ll just cut out of the recording. Or, if it’s downtime, I’ll pull you aside and give you some tips. But, again, we don’t want you to change who you are.”

Jo’lanae speaks. “Vont has told them a bit about you all already.”

PD Toriq nods with a grin. “You each have an image. DG is the competent leader. Leela is the playful big sister. Raine is the spoiled but lovable princex. The only one we don’t know much about is Xen. But as soon as we identify it, we’ll let you know and that those images will lead the show.”

Spoiled princex. What the zoff did Vont tell them?

Jo’lanae gestures towards us. “Any questions or comments?”

Yes, why the zoff am I the spoiled princex? How rude. I slouch further down in my seat.

“To start off with... “ DG says. “I think Xen is the awkward Earthian.”

Everyone laughs or smiles except for me and Xen. He scratches the back of his neck. “I need a better image fast.”

Jo’lanae says, “What about the Earthian genius?”

PD Toriq adds, “I heard you play ten different instruments. That’ll be something good to include in the show. Boost your popularity.”

Xen nods.

“Any other questions?”

None of us say anything.

“You are so cooperative today!” Jo’lanae beams and I know she’s mainly talking to me. “Filming starts tomorrow morning.”

“That soon?” I blurt.

“We want to film your first practice. And if there are no further questions, you all can return to your individual practices.”

We all stand up and touch hands with the LBS crew. “Thanks for working with us,” DG says. The rest of us follow his lead.

“We look forward to working with you,” the crew replies.

It feels like every haur, I have to remind myself of my dream. I’m taking out the big cores. I’m going to win this challenge.